PETROVA
by koldatherine
Summary: Kate Gilbert, the girl without memories and twin of Elena Gilbert. Slowly Kate starts to unravel her forgotten past. At the same time she has to deal with a mess of feelings. What is the secret behind her memory loss?
1. Pilot

**Hey, guys. This is the rewritten version of Petrova. I deleted the old one, but I hope that you'll like this version as much as the old one. Have fun, guys.  
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**PETROVA  
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**Pilot**

_With the skirt in her hands she ran as fast as she could. It was hard with every step she slightly lost her balance. The corset under her many layers of clothes made it impossible for her to breath properly. Her legs were hurting, but she couldn't stop, not when she still wasn't save. She looked over her shoulder, as she saw no one behind her she felt relieved for a second. The following second her fear was once again present. They were following her, even though she didn't saw anyone didn't mean that they had given up. She knew that they would never give up. As she speeded up her pace her foot got caught on a root and she fell. A pain shoot through her cheek, she had cut herself on a twig. She could feel the blood dripping out of the cut. With her hand she touched it and she felt the sticky liquid which was now also on her fingers. Footsteps were audible, to be save she robbed to the closest tree and hid behind it. It was a weak attempt to hide; she knew that she couldn't run forever. The footsteps belonged to a group of men, all dressed in old-fashioned clothes. She begged and hoped that they wouldn't find her. As one of the men opened his mouth the only thing she heard was the ringing of an alarm clock._

Covered in cold sweat Kate sat up in her bed, ignoring the still ringing alarm clock. In her head she replayed the dream she had had so often this year, but every time it scared her how realistic it felt. The fabric of the dress, the corset, the forest floor under her feet, the feeling of blood running down her cheek, the fear, she could even smell the musty scent of the forest. All of that made it so much more real, like it had really happened. Kate didn't understand what was up with the dream or rather nightmare. She shook her head to banish the dream out of her thoughts, as she suddenly heard Jeremy's angry voice telling her to turn off the alarm clock. She did as he told her. Then she threw back the bedcover so she could get ready for school.

Jenna was sitting in the kitchen eating her breakfast, trying to prepare herself for the first day of school of the three teenagers in this house. She didn't thought it would be that hard raising three teenagers who just recently had lost their parents. Jenna was only their aunt only a few years older than Kate and Elena. She was young and now had the responsibility for three teenagers. As she had left Mystic Falls Jenna never thought that she had to come back again, especially not this way, after her sister and her husband's deaths. While still deep in her thoughts, one of her nieces entered the kitchen. From the curly hair she knew it was Kate. Elena and Kate were twins and before Kate's so called accident it was impossible to separate the two. They were always together, but one day Kate run away after a fight with her father. She was found a few months later, not remembering a thing and to make it all worse no one knew or could explain what had caused the memory loss. Apparently the young girl was walking disorientated through the streets. A man had found her and brought her to the hospital. Another strange thing was the bracelet Kate wore, she hadn't had it before, but stranger was that apparently she had started to freak out as a nurse had tried to remove it. Jenna couldn't even imagine how hard it must be for Kate to live with people who said they were her family, but for her they were strangers. She remembered how heartbroken everyone had been around Kate every time she didn't remembered or recognized something. They sent Kate to a psychologist, hoping that she would regain her memory faster. Nothing happened, except for the fact that Kate started to have nightmares. No one, not even Elena knew what they were about.

The clustering of an empty bowl, which was put down with force in front of Jenna, brought her out of her thoughts. Kate had felt her aunt's eyes on her the second she had entered the kitchen, it bothered her more than it should.

"Could you stop starring at me? It is annoying." Kate sat down, poured cereals and milk in the bowl and started to eat. Jenna tried not to be so obvious about the starring. Her eyes wandered between her coffee and her niece.

"Don't forget Dr Grant this afternoon," Jenna reminded her niece, who rolled her eyes in annoyance. Dr Grant was her psychologist, because of her memory loss she had to see him every few days. He was talking all the time, that man never seemed to stop. Jenna knew about Kate's distaste for Dr Grant. The girl hated it to go to him, something Jenna couldn't really understand. Dr Grant was supposed to help Kate regaining her memories, but sometimes it seemed that she didn't want them back. On the other hand it might be very frustrating to try to get your memory back, but nothing happens.

The doorbell brought Jenna out of her thoughts. Kate put her now empty bowl in the sink, grabbed her bag and ran to the door to open it. Outside stood Caroline, the blonde, who somehow had become Kate's best friend in the last year was controlling Kate's outfit. With a smile on her face Kate shook her head her best friend was impossible.

"You are wearing the pink dress, that I gave you for your birthday," the blonde stated smiling, "See, I was right. You can wear such a pale pink."

Rolling her eyes Kate dragged her best friend towards the car and said, "Let's go to school."

The ride to school was like always, Caroline spoke and Kate commented or the other way around, they talked about the upcoming events in Mystic Falls and decided that they needed new dresses. They were talking about normal things girl always talk about and it might seem a bit shallow but she loved every second of it. It was one of the many reasons she was friends with Caroline. While Elena and her whole family were constantly talking about the past or her memory loss, Caroline didn't. It was refreshing. Kate turned her head and watched her blonde friend babbling about boys.

"What about Matt?" Kate asked, making Caroline blush a deep red. The brunette was the only one who knew about her crush on Matt and not once she had told Elena, but she loved teasing her about it.

"Well, he still is hung up on Elena and I don't want to be the rebound girl," Caroline's cheek were still red in embarrassment and focused on the street in front of her. Kate only laughed, something not a lot of people saw these days and Caroline belonged to the few lucky people who got to see this happy side of Kate. Normally Kate was very moody or quiet around other people in hope that they wouldn't bother her with questions about her memory loss. Then there were times Kate could be very mean, you could even say evil. There always was a snarky remark on her tongue she was just waiting to use. Kate's bitch side, like Caroline liked to call it, was one of the reason she revered to Kate as the evil half of the Gilbert twins.

"First day of school. Why do I hate the thought of that?" Kate asked as she started to play with one of her curls.

"Well, there is Tanner and the librarian, you hate so much," Caroline answered.

"I don't hate her. I just find her kind of creepy." The librarian they were talking about was Camilla Grant, she was the daughter of Dr Grant and every time she saw Kate, she had this expression full of pity and sadness on her face. Camilla always tried to talk with her and sometimes appeared on places you don't want to meet a librarian. Her stalking tendencies made her kind of creepy.

The rest of the car ride was full of teasing and laughter.

* * *

The corridors were crowded with students as Kate and Caroline made their way to their lockers. At Bonnie's locker Caroline spotted Elena and Bonnie. She grabbed Kate's arm to stop her and pointed at Elena and Bonnie. The two friends watched how Elena turned towards Matt to greet him, but the hurt boy closed his locker without greeting her back. He was definitely hurt about the break-up. Kate remembered how after Grayson and Miranda died he didn't left Elena's side in the hospital. It might sound horrible that Elena broke up with him just before she left the hospital. You had to pity the boy.

Before Kate could stop the blonde, Caroline walked towards Elena. Kate threw her head back in annoyance, it seemed like her best friend had forgotten about the talk they had had days ago. To prevent further damage Kate followed the blonde to her twin.

"Elena," Caroline pulled a perplexed Elena in a hug, "Oh my god. How are you?"

She let go of Elena and gave her a big smile, "It is so good to see you."

The blonde turned towards Bonnie and asked, as Elena wasn't standing next to her, "How is she? Is she good?"

Bonnie and Elena couldn't believe what just happened, while Kate had to fight the urge to slap Caroline. This was so embarrassing.

"Caroline, she is standing right next to you. You can ask her, right Elena?" Kate faced her twin, giving her the opportunity to tell Caroline herself.

"I'm fine, Caroline," Elena had a small smile on her face, making it sound convincing.

Kate nodded and looked at her best friend, "See, she is fine," She turned back to Elena, "I apologize for her, but you have to understand she is a blonde. She can do nothing about that."

That comment earned her a slap on the back of her head from Caroline and laughter from Elena and Bonnie.

"You are unbelievable," Caroline took off and Kate followed her after she said goodbye to Elena and Bonnie, still amused about her best friends reaction.

Elena followed her sister's movements for a while before she and Bonnie walked the other way. It saddened her a bit that Caroline seemed to get to see this lively side of her twin sister. She found it unfair. Kate was her twin sister and before the accident they were closer than anything else. Now she could be happy if she got to talk to her sister for a minute.

At their lockers Kate apologized for her joke, but a boy distracted Caroline. He must be a new student, a really gorgeous and hot, new student. The two friend were eyeing the stranger very closely. Maybe this year wasn't going to be that bad.

"I have to go," Caroline said, "I have so much to do."

"No, you don't," Kate stopped eyeing the stranger who had disappeared in the secretariat.

"New guy, I need information," The blonde left Kate standing alone and followed the new guy.

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" Kate asked herself. She didn't thought that she would receive an answer.

"How about you stop talking with yourself? That's a start," Shocked she turned around and saw Tyler standing there.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Lockwood?" Kate crossed her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow in challenge. She didn't mind Tyler, they talked with each other regularly, but she wouldn't consider them friends.

"Nothing, but maybe you should ask you brother that question," The brunette looked at him confused, making Tyler laugh that she didn't knew what her brother was doing. Instead of telling her, Tyler turned around and left for class.

* * *

Still thinking about what is wrong with Jeremy, Kate came to late to class. Bad was, it was history and that meant Tanner.

"The other Miss Gilbert decided to join us. I hope you haven't forgotten the way to the class room," Tanner always used Kate's memory loss to mock her. That man was horrible and a bully.

"I have such a bad memory, I just kind of forget everything. I am happy that I don't forget to get dressed in the morning or this would be so embarrassing," That made a few in the class laugh out loud, but the most hid their smiles. The reason Tanner was the way he was with Kate might be that she always answered back. Her pride wouldn't let him get away with insulting her. It made sure that she had at least a detention once a month. Kate loved history, but she hated Tanner.

Without saying anything else Kate sat down right next to the new student. He looked even hotter up-close. The boy looked in confusion between herself and her twin, that wasn't really surprising. It happened all the time when they met new people. Kate remembered how she had done the same after she had seen Elena for the first time.

The rest of the lesson was exactly like the past year. Tanner picked on a few students and as Elena couldn't answer a question, he informed her that he was nice last year for obvious reasons, but he wouldn't be it now anymore. It was unfair, because Kate didn't remember to be treated differently by Tanner after Miranda and Grayson's death, who were after all also her parents. But then again it had been quite a scandal when the townspeople had found out about the fact Kate wasn't really affected by her parents' death. So, it didn't come as a surprise that everyone tried not to be to hard on Elena. They didn't understand or cared much what was going on with Kate, who had been and still was extremely mean and rude since her return.

The new student next to her livered her a bit of distraction from Tanner's history lesson. Kate had to admit that she already hated the fact that he was this good-looking with his green eyes and his light brown hair, which was styled in an Edward-Cullen-way. In all honesty, Kate would choose the new guy over a thousand Edwards. Under his tight shirt you could see his firm muscular form. Kate took her lower lip between her teeth while she was undressing the new guy. Definitely better than Edward Cullen, she thought.

As the bell rang, Kate left the classroom as fast as possible, so that Tanner couldn't find a reason to give her detention. What she didn't notice was that she had forgotten her book. She opened her locker and threw in the things she didn't need.

Suddenly she heard someone talk to her, "Excuse me, I think you forgot your book." Kate turned to see the new guy holding out her book for her to take it.

"Thank you," The brunette said and took the book back in her possession, "I'm Katherine Gilbert, but everyone just calls me Kate."

The moment the new boy heard her name he became stiff, but he quickly shook it off.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore," He said with a small smile on his face.

"It is nice to meet you, Stefan," Kate loved the sound of his name on her tongue. She felt different while she looked in Stefan's green orbs. It was a familiar feeling, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I hope you like it here in Mystic Falls," Kate felt…nervous. She never felt nervous.

"Yeah, it is great to be back," Stefan said, confusing the brunette.

"Back? You lived here before?" Damn memory loss.

"I was born here, but my family moved around a lot. So, don't be surprised that you don't know me," Not like it would matter, she didn't even know her own relatives.

"So, you don't know anyone here, right?" Stefan nodded at her question and a smirk spread across her face, "Well, then you won't mind it to join a few friends and I tonight, right? We are planning to hang out at the Grill. It is like the only place where something happens at least for us young people."

While her explanation she had started to play with her curl, a sign that her confidence was back. Stefan didn't really listened to what Kate was saying; his eyes were transfixed on her finger that was playing with the curl and the all to familiar smirk on her face. Kate soon realised that Stefan wasn't really listening, there was an expression of recognition on his face. She snipped her fingers in front of his face, calling his name to get him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry. I was just a bit distracted," He apologized, making one of Kate's very rare smiles appear on her lips.

"None taken. So, are you coming tonight or not?" She asked him again.

"I don't know, I'll have to see…" He couldn't even finish his sentence as Kate already had his phone in her hand, programming her number in his phone.

"If you know, just call me," She handed him back his phone with a smirk, "It was nice to meet you, Stefan Salvatore."

It was a mystery to Stefan how Kate had managed to take his phone out of his pocket without his knowledge.

* * *

Actually Kate should go to Dr Grant, but she was sure that she would murder him if she heard him talking again, so she didn't go. Instead she climbed through her sister's window in the house. Why did she climbed through Elena's window and not her own? There was a tree right outside her window and then there was the fact that Jenna would look in her room first if she realized that she was at home. Her bare feet touched the carpet on Elena's bedroom floor. After throwing her bag and her jacket on a chair, she laid down on the bed. Only a few seconds later the bedroom door opened and Elena entered.

"Aren't you supposed to be with your psychologist?" Elena asked, trying not to sound disappointed that her sister once again ignored her appointment with Dr Grant and she didn't want to start a fight, in fear that Kate would run off again.

Kate rolled her eyes at her twin's question, "Yeah, but if I want to hear a person talking the whole time I would make Caroline talking about 'America's next topmodel' and that would be more interesting than whatever Dr Grant says."

Elena knew how much her twin hated it to go there, even though she didn't really understand why.

"Fine, can you help me please?" She asked her twin and lifted her jeans up, to show Kate her wound.

"What the hell did you do?" Kate looked at the wound and stood up to get the first aid box. While Kate was cleaning Elena's wound, Elena told her about her encounter with Stefan at the boy's restroom and then the one later in the cemetery.

"Let me summarise that. You were writing in your diary, a bird attacked you, you ran away and fell right into Stefan's arms. Did I forget something?" Kate mocked her sister, making Elena smack her with a pillow.

"I didn't fell into his arms. He was just there and then while I was checking my wound he was suddenly gone. I don't get him," Elena shook her head in confusion. Stefan Salvatore was a walking mystery for her.

"Well, he is hot and very nice. And if you want him to be your new boyfriend you have to move fast because Caroline has an eye on him," Elena smacked Kate again with the pillow. She loved this moment between them, it was like before Kate's memory loss. Her twin even smiled, well it was more smirking, but she seemed happy.

While Elena was smacking her with a pillow Kate remembered what Tyler had said this morning about Jeremy. She stopped Elena and asked her about Jeremy.

Elena sighed and put down the pillow, "He is taking drugs. I caught him this morning at school, trying to hide that he was high. All of it is so hard on him, but I don't get it why he is getting high. That won't make all the problems go away."

"With problems you mean our parent's death and my memory loss, right?" Kate looked down at the floor, feeling guilty as hell.

As Elena saw that her sister was giving herself the fault for Jeremy's drug use, she took her face between her hands, making her look at her, "Listen to me. This is not your fault. You will get your memories back one day and you know that I'll help you. We're a family, Kate."

Elena pulled her sister in an embrace. Kate had to admit as much as she loved Elena and the hug and as much as she tried to believe her sister. There always was a feeling inside of her making her feel like she didn't belong in this life, like she wasn't supposed to live like this. She tried to shake it off, but she never fully could get rid of it.

* * *

Dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a dark blue V-neck top and her black ankle boots Kate came down the stairs. She checked her phone in hope that Stefan might get in touch with her. He didn't, but it may be because he was just leaving with her twin sister. As she saw the two she felt her heart clenched, but she shrugged it off. She grabbed her leather jacket and was ready to leave, but her aunt stopped her.

Jenna's arms were crossed over her chest, her face and her voice showed her anger, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I am meeting Caroline at the Grill," She put on her jacket and left for the door.

"You are not going anywhere till we talked," Jenna was screaming now. Kate turned around, tilted her head and looked at her aunt.

After taking a deep breath Jenna continued her talk, "You weren't on any of the therapy sessions in the last weeks. They are supposed to help you and you don't go. Why are we even paying for them if you don't want your memories back?" Kate didn't look at her aunt, her gaze was fixed on the wall next to her. She didn't look ashamed. No, she looked indifferent.

"Fine, I'll go to my therapy. Can I go now?" She didn't even wait for an answer and left through the door.

Angry Kate walked through Mystic Falls. Every stone that landed in front of her feet was kicked away forcefully. Till she arrived at the park, where she sat down on a bench and buried her head in her hands. The Grill was not an option anymore; she was angry and couldn't just have fun with her friends now. Suddenly she heard a crow behind her. Kate jumped up and turned around to spot a crow on the backrest of the bench.

"Only a bird, scaring the crap out of me," Kate let out a laugh and ran her fingers through her curls.

"Do you normally talk with yourself?" Once again the brunette jumped, but this time she let out a scream. A man had spoken, who now was smirking at her reaction.

"Are you insane? Do you want me to have a heart attack or something?" Kate held her hand over her racing heart. She took her time to check out the stranger, who had scared her. He was, for the lack of a better word, hot. The stranger was all tall, dark and handsome. His ice blue eyes were intriguing. Though his cocky smirk was a tiny bit annoying, but it had its charm.

"My bad, how can I make it up to you?" The arrogance and the cockiness was tick in his words and he did a thing with his eyes.

Kate's lips graced a small smile, "Well, you could start with your name."

"I'm Damon," He said and took her hand in his to place a kiss on it, "And what is yours?"

"Kate," Her voice was a bit breathless, mostly because Damon was invading her personal space. Their faces were so close that she could feel his breath on her face. Her brown eyes were looking into his blue ones, not once breaking the contact. It was intense. As the tension was getting too much for Kate she looked away and took her hand out of Damon's. The second the skin contact was gone, she felt cold.

"It was nice meeting you, Damon. Hopefully I'll see you around," She left, more like run out of the park and went straight home not looking back once. Damon was left alone with a big smirk on his face.

* * *

The music was loud and there were so many people, that she couldn't find Elena. She asked herself, where her twin sister was. To make her situation worse she wasn't even drunk a bit and she had to drink, like a lot to forget the horribly boring therapy session with Dr Grant. Like she had said, she went to her therapy session and it was horrible. Forcing her therapy out of her mind, Kate made her way to the forest, hoping her sister would be there. Elena definitely had strange places where she would write diary, not like Kate judged her or anything.

As she entered the forest, not looking where she was going, she ran straight into someone. She fell but before she touched the floor the someone caught her. The someone was Stefan.

"I'm sorry. I should watch where I'm going," Kate apologized, as she was standing secured on her feet again.

"No, it was my fault, Kate," He smiled apologetic.

A small smile was on her lips, "You are way to nice. Not that, that is a bad thing or anything," She made a pause and then asked him, "Have you seen my twin? We were supposed to meet here but I can't find her."

"We were talking earlier and then I left to fill up her drink and…" Kate looked for a cup but there wasn't one.

"Well, you obviously forgot her drink," She stated and pointed at his hands. Stefan laughed embarrassed.

"What were you two talking about?" Kate asked in interest. Elena wasn't one who opened up easily at least not since the car accident.

"She told me about the car accident and about your…"He stopped as Kate interrupted him.

"Yeah, my memory loss. I don't even remember the way I lost them. The first thing I remember is waking up in a hospital. I definitely should leave." She turned around to leave but suddenly she felt a hand on her wrist turning her around, to face Stefan.

"I'm sorry. I can't even imagine what you must go through," He sounded so genuine, like her really cared.

"You're sorry? I have no idea who I am or who I was. I'm so lost. I have no idea what I should do with myself. My parents are dead but it fells like some acquaintances died. It is like everybody who knew me before now doesn't know me anymore because it like I am someone else. It sucks. Everybody pities me. I hate it. So don't say sorry because I have no memories not a midlife crises or something else," Kate could feel the tears in her eyes. She ripped her wrist out of his hands and ran off.

The tears were running down her cheeks, burning in her eyes as she ran. She found herself back in the park, where she had met Damon the day before. Why she was there, she didn't know. The park had something calming. She sat down on the bench. Luckily it was dark or someone might have seen her crying, see her being weak. After a while she felt someone next to her.

"Whoever you are, just leave me alone," She didn't even look at the person she snapped at. The person didn't listen to her and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. Kate knew that she should push the person away, but the embrace was warm and familiar. It felt like she had hugged this person before. She cried into his shoulder, not caring anymore that he saw her this weak. After a while her tears stopped and her eyes closed, but before she fell asleep she heard the stranger say something to her, making her heart beat faster, "Don't think you're weak, you are strong."

With these words in her ears Kate fell asleep.

* * *

Kate woke up as the sun started rising, lying on the bench. The first thing she did was looking for the stranger, but she was all alone. Shaking her head, she made her way home, checking her makeup in car windows and fixed it. At her front door she saw Stefan, just leaving.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Elena invited me and we talked the whole night, but she fell asleep. So, I decided it was time to leave," He explained. Kate could hear the affection for her sister in his voice. It made her feel hurt, she didn't know why.

"Okay," She walked past Stefan towards the door and then turned around remembering something, "I'm sorry for my behaviour yesterday. I am a little bit sensitive about my memory loss and I know you tried to be nice to me, but I don't want another person's pity. I hope you can understand me."

Stefan gave her a smile, making something flutter in her stomach, "I understand you and believe me when I tell you that I don't pity you. I think you are strong."

With that Stefan left. Why was she feeling so strange around Stefan?

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**Finished, don't forget to review. The next chapter will follow soon.  
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**xoxo Lynn  
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	2. The Night Of The Comet

**A double update. Hope you'll love this chapter.  
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**PETROVA  
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**The Night Of The Comet**

Kate always found it fascinating how much a person could talk about the design of a flyer. There she was walking up to the school with her best friend next to her, who was talking about the upcoming event. It was the night of the comet and the blond had everything planed out already.

"You have to help me with the flyers later. Believe me, if I tell you that they are amazing," A big grin was plastered on Caroline's face.

"Care, I promised you months ago that I'll help you," Kate reminded the blonde and changed the subject, "Now, tell me about this 'mystery guy' you saw in the Grill."

A small blush appeared on the blonde's cheeks. Caroline didn't look at her best friend, but she knew that Kate had that smirk on her face. It was annoying. She always smirked when she knew that she had something against someone. Caroline bet that Kate would make a great villain. That woman could be so evil.

"How about you tell me what you have been doing before I tell you anything?" Caroline asked, not wanting to tell Kate about the guy right away. She would tease her or even try to find the guy and do everything to get them together. Kate was very dedicated to their friendship. Matt was proof of that. The boy had flirted with Caroline to find out if Elena liked him. Kate had broken his nose and Elena didn't speak with her for a week. The brunette was very complicated, either she could be the craziest and funniest girl ever or she could be dark and dangerous. Her mood swings were scary.

Kate rolled her eyes at Caroline's change of topic, "Not much. Met Stefan, had a fight with Jenna, found out that my little brother is taking drugs, meeting a guy with a crow and having a breakdown in the middle of the park. I think that was it…," She stopped, to think about something else she had to say and found something, "Oh yeah, right. I have a crush on Stefan, but he is totally into my sister. Now, I am finished. Let's talk about 'mystery guy'"

Caroline's mouth fell open as she listen to Kate, who now only looked at the blonde waiting for her to talk.

"What?" Came out of Caroline's mouth, "You're in love with Stefan?"

Kate rolled her eyes, "Now, that is just typical. I tell you that my brother is taking drugs and you only hear about the guy."

"Well, I meant…" Caroline pulled herself together, before she continued talking with shock, "Oh my god, Jeremy is taking drugs? Since when?"

Kate suddenly laughed, earning a bewildered look from her best friend. It didn't take Caroline long to just join into Kate's laughter. With their arms linked the two best friend walked towards the school building, giggling and talking about the 'mystery guy'. They weren't aware of a pair of eyes upon them, watching them every step.

* * *

In her lunch break Kate was sitting on the bleachers, reading a book. She didn't mind that she was alone. It was refreshing not to deal with Caroline, Elena and Bonnie and to just sit there on her own. She loved her friends, but sometimes she just wanted to be alone and read a book. It was calming her. Still engrossed in her book, Kate didn't notice someone sitting down next to her.

"Kate?" At the mention of her name, Kate looked up from her book and faced the person who had called her. It was Stefan.

"Yep, the one and only. What can I do for you Stefan?" She closed her book and stuffed in into her bag. It was a way of avoiding Stefan's intense stare. The way he looked at her, made her heart beat faster.

"I just wanted to talk with you," Kate lifted an eyebrow in disbelieve.

"Just talking with me? How come I don't really believe that?" She looked at Stefan, trying to find out what he was trying to archive through that.

"You know talking with me won't get you any faster in my sister's pants," Kate said in a singsong voice. She laughed as she saw Stefan's embarrassment.

"That is not the reason I wanted to talk with you," He forced himself, not to show the embarrassment in his voice, "I want to get to know you."

"I think that you are not completely honest with me, but okay. What do you want to know?" Kate said with a small smile on her lips, waiting for Stefan to ask his question.

"Why are you and Caroline friends? I don't want to judge, but you two seem to be complete opposites. You sit here on the bleachers reading 'The Picture of Dorian Grey', while Caroline is cheerleading," Stefan asked her.

"Wow, that is very personal," Stefan wanted to apologize to her, but Kate cut him off before he could open his mouth, "Caroline and I? Yes, we are complete opposites, but isn't that what you look for in a friendship? If Caroline and I would be the same it would be so boring. I know that I won't have a discussion with her over a book or what the author wants to tell us through his story, but I just love talking with her over simple things. We laugh, we gossip and all the other things girls do. It might seem shallow, but I love it. I can't believe I just told you all of that."

Kate laughed at how easily she had told Stefan about this. She hadn't even told Caroline herself about it.

"It isn't shallow. I understand you. You feel normal with her," Stefan empathized.

"Yeah," She brushed a curl of her hair behind her ear and a smile formed on her lips. "Can I ask you a question, Stefan?" He nodded.

"Do you have any family members except your uncle?" She asked and looked him right in his green eyes. "And don't lie to me. I won't tell Elena. I promise."

Stefan broke her gaze and licked his lips. "I have an older brother, named Damon."

"Damon?" Kate suddenly remembered something. "Does your brother has dark hair, always wears black and has ice blue eyes?"

"Yes. Why? Have you met him before, Kate?" Kate nodded. "You have to keep away from him. My brother is trouble."

"He can't be that worse." Kate didn't take Stefan's warning seriously. "What happened between the two of you that you are so cross with each other?" She raised an eyebrow in question. Stefan let out a sigh. He didn't wanted to tell Kate about their past with Katherine.

"Okay, don't tell me then," Kate started to play with one of her curls, "I bet it was a girl. It is always a girl." Stefan looked at her in surprise, what lead to a big smirk on Kate's face. "Oh, I am right. Right?"

"Yes, her name was Katherine. She was with both of us at the same time," Stefan confessed.

"Wow, you and your brother were stupid," Ignoring the hurt that washed over Stefan's face she continued. "A girl. I bet you blame her. I believe that she is the innocent one. You could have made her chose one or decided that family means more than a girlfriend."

"She is dead and Damon blames me for it," Stefan didn't look Kate in the eye. Now, Kate felt guilty. She hadn't known that. It seemed that Stefan suffered under his brother's blame for Katherine's death. The brunette ignored the fact that the Salvatore's ex-girlfriend and herself had the same name.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Kate apologized.

"But you are right. We were stupid," Stefan gave her a smile. "So, Oscar Wilde. Why?"

Kate laughed at Stefan's change of topic, but she went with it. The rest of her lunch break was filled with discussions about their favourite books. As much fun it was talking with Stefan, she couldn't shake off the feeling of pure jealousy towards her sister.

* * *

Like she had promised Kate helped with the flyers. Bonnie and Elena, who decided to help them with the flyers, joined Caroline and her. They were talking about boys. Okay, it was more Caroline trying to get Elena to spill the beans about the night she and Stefan had spent together.

"Oh, Caroline. Stop it. It's Elena we're talking about not you. She wouldn't just have sex with a guy she didn't even know," Kate defended her sister. The act wasn't really selfless. Kate was slowly falling for Stefan, even more now after they had spent lunch break together talking with each other.

"She was alone with a boy all night. A hot guy. Who in their right mind wouldn't jump him?" Caroline argued.

"If your definition of 'alone' means having your aunt and your little brother upstairs. Then, yes. They were alone," Kate answered sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Katie."

"Don't Katie me. I forbid you to call me that. It sounds stupid."

"I offered Kat, but you said no."

"Because then I have to deal with stupid cat-jokes."

"Why would you use 'Kate' as a nickname for 'Katherine'?"

"Because."

"That's not a proper answer, Katie."

"Oh, whatever, blondie."

"Don't call me that."

"Stop calling me Katie or I'll start calling you Barbie. Deal?"

"Deal."

With that Caroline and Kate's discussion was over. Like nothing happened Caroline once again started to talk about Stefan and Elena. Elena and Bonnie watched the blonde and her best friend with disbelieve. They fought, but made up a second later.

"You know, Elena. Caroline has a point. You like Stefan, so why not just go for it?" Kate asked her twin. Caroline raised an eyebrow at her best friend's behaviour. Just this morning Kate had told her that she herself liked Stefan too, but here she was telling her sister to get the boy.

"Like Caroline always says…," Kate stopped and looked at the blonde. It was an offer to continue.

"Right. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex. It's easy," Caroline said with a smug smirk on her face. Bonnie and Kate laughed, but for different reasons.

Elena started to think while the other three girls continued their talk. Where her sister and Caroline right? Should she just forget her caution and try it? She didn't have anything to lose, right? Why not? Elena stood up.

"Caroline and Kate are right," She interrupted the talk of the other three girls, "It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do. And you are coming with me." Elena grabbed her twin by the arm.

"Do I have to? I don't want to see you and Stefan having sex," Kate begged.

"You need to drive me there," Elena simply said and took Kate's bag. She turned around and walked towards the car. Kate gave up and followed her sister cursing.

"Sounds like a threesome," Caroline giggled, receiving a slap on the arm by Bonnie.

"How can a person have such dirty thoughts?"

* * *

"Do I have to stay?" Kate whined. Elena was ignoring her sister's wailing and dragged her to the Salvatore boarding house.

"The excuse that you need someone to drive you home is stupid. You could ask Stefan or I'll pick you up tomorrow," She suggested.

"Why would I need to be picked up tomorrow?" Elena turned around, asking her sister.

"Because if you and Stefan have sex…," Elena interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.

"I am not going to have sex with him. I only want to talk with him," Elena stated and once again started to walk to the front door.

"Yeah, and I don't want to see that one either," Kate murmured under her breath, so Elena couldn't hear her.

The Gilbert twins stopped at the front door. The boarding house had a certain creepy factor, but Elena used the doorbell none the less. It was then that Kate realised that the door was open.

"Big house, but we let the door open. Isn't like there are any burglars," Kate said sarcastically. That earned her Elena's elbow in her rips and a glare.

The twins entered the house and looked around. The house had looked impressive from the outside, but the inside was breath taking. It was huge. Elena called for Stefan, but she received no answer. Kate turned to the wide open door as suddenly she saw something fly towards her and Elena.

"Elena, duck," She screamed as a crow flew towards them. Both siblings ducked, avoiding the crow. As Kate turned around to check up on Elena she suddenly looked in the face of a man. He was invading her personal space, mere inches separated their faces and to top it all Kate knew who the man was.

"Damon," She breathed out, making her opponent smirk, "You and your creepy crow."

"Nice to meet you again, Kate," He took her hand and placed a kiss on it. His cocky smirk never leaving his face.

"I bet it is," Rudely she took her hand out of his and pushed passed him to Elena.

"You know each other?" Elena asked her twin, the concern clear in her voice. Something about Damon didn't seem right and that Kate seemed to know him concerned her.

"You must be Elena," Moving past Kate, Damon took Elena's hand and placed a kiss on it, "I am Damon, Stefan's brother."

"He didn't told me he had a brother," Elena said. Kate snorted at the scene in front of her. She turned around to close the door, but to her surprise the door was already closed. How did that happen?

"Well, Stefan is not one to brag," The arrogance was clear in Damon's voice. Elena found it funny that even though he was talking with her, it seemed like he was more focused on her twin sister.

Kate walked to them, took her sisters hand from Damon's and then stood between them. "So, Damon. Nice house. Do you and your brother live here all alone?" Kate took a step towards him, making their chests touching each other. She had hoped that her invading Damon's personal space would get a reaction out of him, but the only thing he did was smirk. Oh, she hated his smirk already.

"Kate, how about you wait outside I'll be out in a few minutes," Elena offered. Although Kate didn't want to leave Elena alone with Damon, she did as she was told and waited outside. Elena would question her about how she knew Damon and surely give her a lecture.

While Kate was sitting in the car waiting for Elena, she let her mind wander. Since the first time she had seen Damon and Stefan she had this feeling, a thought in the back of her mind that she knew them from somewhere. Their faces, their voices, everything about them reminded her of something. Could she have known them before her memory loss and if she did why did neither one of them told her that they knew her? The brunette cursed her memory loss.

The car door opened and Elena sat down next to her, "Let's go home."

* * *

Elena had questioned Kate on their way home, but the only answer she got from her twin was, that they had meet in the park and talked with each other for a minute, before Kate left. At home Elena decided to eat ice cream to forget her frustration with Stefan. Her aunt and sister listened to her rambling about Stefan. She had been doing that a lot today.

"Hey, I want ice cream too," Kate stole her twin's bowl of ice cream. Elena took her bowl back, making Kate pout.

"Don't pout. I am in big need of ice cream," Elena took a spoon full with ice cream and put it in her mouth. "So, back to Stefan. He's on the rebound and has raging family issues."

"Everyone with Damon as a family has family issues," Kate scoffed.

Ignoring her niece comment, Jenna started to ramble about what issues she had with her ex-boyfriends, "Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues. Or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues."

"What guys did you used to date?" Kate asked laughing. All three females fall into a fit of laughter.

As much as Kate knew she never had a boyfriend, but there were rumours. They were mostly about her going out with some guys once and then never seeing them again. The reason for that was that she always ended up in bed with them or they were simply not her type. If Kate was honest she didn't believe any of these rumours.

The door opened and Jeremy came inside. He was stoned. Jenna was furious, while the twins just were disappointed. Jenna followed him towards the stairs and scolded him. She even threw an apple at him, in that moment Kate had to hold back her laughter. Although she hated the fact that her brother was taking drugs, that just had been funny.

* * *

"Would you like a program?" Kate asked and gave the addressed person a program. Caroline had put Elena and Kate on program duty. While they were walking through Mystic Falls handing out programs, Kate watched her sister closely. Something was bothering Elena.

"Hey, what is going on with you, Elena? Is it Stefan?" Kate asked her. They stopped walking and looked at each other.

"He didn't call or text, but then I realised we never even exchanged that stuff. We never got to the texting part," Elena explained.

"And that is a problem, because?" Kate asked her. She knew what her twin was doing, Elena was looking for an excuse.

"It is not worth it, Kate," Elena sighed.

"You're wrong. It is worth it. If you really like Stefan it wouldn't bother you that he has family issues or ex-girlfriend issues. Something stupid like not having his number wouldn't stop you from being with him. You are trying so hard to find a reason why you can't, instead of just following your heart. I get it Elena. Our parents are dead, but that doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to be happy. They would want you to be happy. Don't give up your own happiness, just because you think you don't deserve it," Kate stopped her speech and had to stop her laughter, "Oh my god. I just lectured you. Katherine Gilbert lectured Elena Gilbert. Who thought that would happen one day?"

With a smile on her lips, Elena pulled her twin in a hug. Elena had no idea that in that moment Kate had made a selfless decision. Although Kate had feelings for Stefan, she just couldn't bear it to see her sister like this. She might not remember their time before her accident, but it was something deep inside of her telling that family should come first and if Elena needed Stefan to be happy, then she could live with Stefan just as her friend.

"Thank you, Katie," Elena whispered in her twin's ear.

"No problem, but don't call me that," Kate whispered back, making Elena laugh.

Neither one of them saw the brunette woman watching them closely with her green eyes. A sad smile was on her lips. The view in front of her broke her heart, because she knew that there would come a time in which the twins wouldn't be this close. She wished she could stop it, but she was forbidden to interfere.

* * *

Kate looked up to the dark sky, waiting for the comet with a small smile on her face. She stood a bit outside of the big crowd.

"Here a candle," Someone approached her and held out a candle. It was Stefan.

"Thank you," She took the candle Stefan had offered her, "Elena and I were at your house yesterday and I had the pleasure of meeting your brother again. He is very…annoying."

Stefan laughed, "He is just being Damon."

"I bet he is, but lets not talk about him. I won't to talk with you about Elena," Kate's gaze wandered over the crowd, trying to spot her sister. Stefan followed her gaze.

"She likes you. I know that she does and I know that you like her. Elena believes that she doesn't deserve to be happy not after what happened with our parents. A big curse of us Gilbert women is our stubbornness. She needs time before she comes around, so don't give up on her," Kate realised that she just had done it again, "What's up with me today? That's the second speech I'm giving today. First Elena and now you."

Kate laughed before she grabbed Stefan's hand and led him to Elena.

"What are you doing, Kate?" Stefan asked her.

"Making sure you don't give up on my twin sister," The brunette simply answered.

A few feet away from Elena, they stopped and Kate walked behind Stefan. She started to push him in Elena's way. She started to whisper in his ear, "Be nice to her. She is a bit pissed at the whole Katherine-fiasco Damon mentioned yesterday."

With a last shove from Kate, Stefan found himself next to Elena. He looked back at Kate, who walked away with a smirk on her face.

Kate didn't know that a once again the same woman from this afternoon was watching her, but this time an older man stood next to her.

"I think we agreed that we will leave her alone," The man pointed out.

The woman ignored him; she didn't wanted to talk with him.

"She doesn't remember you anymore. It makes no sense to talk with her."

"I don't care about that. Maybe that is a way to get them back without going all the way through with the plan. I don't think that I could forgive myself for putting her through all that pain," The woman told the man sadly.

"We will follow the plan. We won't interfere till she has her memories back," He ordered. With a last look at the woman he left. The woman was left back feeling guilty for things she hadn't done yet. It was horrible that she was only allowed to watch Kate, she wish she could warn the girl. She knew the girl would hate her, but before that happened she always would keep an eye on her. One day she wouldn't only be Camilla Grant, the librarian, but a person Kate once had trusted with her life. Camilla realized that their lives were way too complicated.

* * *

Everyone was going home or to the Grill, Kate decided to stay outside. Watching the night sky, it was calming her. Although it was cold, Kate didn't even think to go inside. Stefan joined her.

"Let me guess. My sister had excuses why you couldn't be together," Kate didn't got an answer from Stefan, "Silence, so I am right. Don't forget give her time. She'll come around."

"Why are you doing this?" Stefan asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Helping your sister."

Kate scoffed, "She is my family. Why shouldn't I want to help her?"

"I don't mean to offend you," Stefan tried to explain himself, "But sometimes you seem rather…"

"Selfish?" The brunette finished his sentence and let out a laugh, "I am selfish, but if I can help Elena I will."

Kate's eyes didn't leave the night sky. What she told Stefan was the truth. She was selfish, but although she didn't remember who she was there was a small feeling of responsibility for Elena. Kate wanted to see Elena happy, even if Kate had to be something she didn't like to be, selfless.

Stefan watched the girl next to him. Both, Elena and Kate looked exactly like Katherine, but only Kate possessed that evil spark, that reminded him of Katherine. Elena and Kate were complete opposites. While Elena was selfless, kind and caring, Kate was funny and selfish. Although Kate also was caring.

"Take a picture. It will last longer," Kate's voice brought Stefan out of his thoughts.

In embarrassment he took his eyes of her. He hadn't realised that Kate had stopped looking at the night sky. The girl started to laugh at Stefan's embarrassment. It was one of her real laughs, one normally only Caroline got out of her.

"You're cute, when you're embarrassed," Kate said between laughter not even realising what she had just said.

It only took Kate a second to understand what had just slipped out of her mouth. She put a hand over her mouth in shock and avoided Stefan's disbelieving stare. Before Kate could explain herself Matt called out her name.

"Kate, Stefan," Matt called out their names and ran up to them.

"What is going on, Matt?" Kate asked, shaking off her embarrassment.

"Have you seen my sister?" He asked the two of them, " She seems to be missing."

"No, sorry Matt. I haven't seen her, but I'll keep an eye out for her," Kate promised him, "I really should go now."

Matt stopped her as she tried to walk away, "Wait. Did you know about Jeremy and Vicki?"

"Jeremy and Vicki? What are you talking about? They aren't together, right?" The brunette was confused now. She knew that Jeremy had had a crush on Vicki, but she had no idea that there ever happened something between them.

"It seems like they slept with each other and that he is dealing with drugs," Matt told her. The look on Kate's face broke his heart, it was pure disbelieve.

"I gotta go home. This is just to much," Kate ran off, away from Matt and Stefan, who had to fight the urge to run after her.

* * *

Kate couldn't breath. She could feel the tightness of the corset around her chest and the heavy dress on her body. For minutes she had been wandering around Mystic Falls trying to calm herself down, nothing helped. With both of her hands she hold on to the car, trying to get the strange beating sound out of her ear and to breath again properly. Everything that had happened today had been too much for her. Her feelings for Stefan, giving up Stefan for Elena and finding out about Jeremy not only taking drugs, but also dealing with them. She couldn't do this anymore. The only thing that she wanted was to understand what was happening with her at the moment. Her eyes were closed in pain; she didn't saw someone approaching her.

Someone turned her around and pulled her into his chest. For a few seconds Kate thought that it was the stranger from the other night, but as she heard soothing words whispered in her ear, she knew that it was Stefan. He held her to him caressed her back, calming her. The way Stefan treated her and his scent in her nose, made her calm down. She could breath again and the beating sound disappeared. Her hand was holding him by his leather jacket not wanting to let him go. Kate didn't dare to open her eyes, afraid that he would pull away from her. She could feel the muscles moving under his shirt and felt his nose in her hair. Although she had decided to forget her feelings for Stefan, she didn't want this to stop. At the end of the day, she was still Kate Gilbert, the selfish one.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked and Kate only nodded. He still didn't move away from her, it was like he didn't want to move away as much as Kate did.

Kate lifted her head and looked into Stefan's face. She realised how close their faces were. Their breath mingled with each other and she lost herself in his green eyes. Her heart was beating faster. Not even thinking about Elena, Kate made the space between their faces smaller. Her nose brushed against his, but before more could happen, Kate's phone rang. The sound remembered Kate that this was Stefan, the boy her twin sister was in love with. She moved away from Stefan, to check her phone. It was Caroline. Instead of answering the call, Kate ignored her best friend. She had to talk with Stefan about what had happened, but to her surprise he had disappeared. Kate looked around trying to see where he had run off to, but nothing.

Her thoughts were turning around Stefan and the almost kiss. Kate wished that she could feel guilty about what had happened, but she couldn't. Blame her selfishness for that.

* * *

As she walked past Jeremy's room she could hear her aunt inside it and decided to go in there. Jenna was going through Jeremy's things. Kate wasn't really sure if she wanted to interrupt her aunt but her curiosity won.

"What are you doing?" She asked Jenna, who was going through Jeremy's chest of drawers.

"I've become my worst nightmare. The authority figure that has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy," Jenna ran across the room and was now searching in one of Jeremy's boots. She screamed Jackpot and threw the boot away.

"Why are you doing this?" Kate asked. She had never seen her aunt like this.

"Your ass of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday," Jenna was going through another pair of drawers.

"That explains it. You got Tannered," Kate said and sat down, "I usually just ignore him. That helps."

"Discover the impossible, Miss Sommers," She mocked Tanner, "Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up."

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna. You have to take care of three teenagers and one of them has memory loss. It is hard but I think you're doing a good job." She tried to comfort her aunt.

"I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you. I can't do it. I'm going to say or do the wrong thing and he's gonna get worse and it's gonna be my fault," Jenna sat down on Jeremy's bed.

"Hey, you're not alone in this. You have me," Jenna gave her a look of disbelieve, "Okay, I haven't been a big help but there is still Elena and I will try to help. I sometimes ask myself if this is all my fault."

"What?" Jenna couldn't believe her ears. Kate was blaming herself for Jeremy's drug use.

"My memory loss. I've been so distant and maybe if I would have taken some time for him he wouldn't do drugs," Kate sat down next to her aunt.

"It isn't your fault," Jenna put her arms around her niece and hugged her to her, "And that you think that it is your fault makes it mine. Taking care of you all is my job, not yours, not Elena's, mine."

"But you are not alone in this, Jenna," Elena said, she was standing in the doorway and had listen to the conversation, "You're scared of failing, that's all. We all are."

Elena looked thoughtful for a while and then she started to speak again, "I have to go do something. But are you two going to be okay?"

Jenna nodded with a small smile on her face, still hugging Kate.

* * *

"Caroline, I know that you are pissed that I ignored you before, but please could you call me back. I have to tell you something," That was the tenth voicemail Kate had left her best friend.

She had the feeling that there was something wrong. Caroline wouldn't ignore her just because of one missed call. The blonde would call her more often, hoping to get some juicy details. Maybe she was sleeping already or Caroline had met 'mystery guy' again. She would try it again in the morning.

Kate was already ready to go to bed, as her door opened.

"Kate, I have to tell you something," Elena entered her room with a big smile on her face. The happiness was surrounding her twin sister.

"Has this something to do with the thing you had to do earlier?" Kate asked and sat down on her bed.

Elena sat down next to her, " Stefan and I kissed."

Kate's mouth fell open, but she pulled it together and tried to be happy for her twin.

"So, are you together now?" Kate asked Elena, ignoring the pain in her chest.

Here Kate was, listening to her sister telling her about Stefan, when she had to fight the urge to start crying. The almost kiss between her and Stefan had just made her feelings for him grow. Kate was happy for Elena, but her heart broke right there.

* * *

**That was it for now. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought. **

**xoxo Lynn  
**


	3. Friday Night Bites

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

**I thank SummerAlina, winxgirl1997, Silently Tearful, xxRAINBOWunicornsXX and ArtemisLuna85 for reviewing. Hope that you will like this one as much as the last two. Have fun reading, loves.  
**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**Friday Night Bites**

Camilla was sitting in the library, her laptop open in front of her and surrounded by books. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she had dark circles under her eyes. Everything signs for her lack of sleep. The young woman couldn't stop to find another way so that their plan could work without getting so many people hurt. Her and her father would never have been in this situation if it weren't for her mother. Penelope had decided to do what she thought was right and now they had to clean up her mess. Camilla hadn't heard from her mother ever since. She was in hiding, because she knew what would happen to her if SHE found her. Nonetheless Camilla missed her mother and she knew that her father too missed his wife. Her parents were complete opposites, while her father was calm, her mother was outgoing. Somehow they two had found each other and were still in love like two teenagers. A smile found its way on her face at the memory of the happy marriage her parents had.

A request for a video chat brought her out of her memories. She accepted and a blonde woman appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Isabella. What do you want?" Camilla asked annoyed. She really didn't have time for the blonde's problems.

"Wow, aren't we rude today," The blonde said and started to drink from a blood bag, "I just wanted to see how you are doing."

"Yeah, sure. Stop drinking that stuff in front of me," The librarian exclaimed.

With an eye roll, Isabella put the blood away, "You know I got a much harder job than you. Do you know how hard it is to find one? They are very well hidden."

"You are not supposed to find a random one, but a special one," Camilla was getting more and more annoyed with the blonde vampire.

"I know. I might be blond, but I am not stupid. Why doesn't our queen go and find him herself? She is better in these kind of things than I am," The word 'queen' Isabella said with sarcasm.

"You know that she can't. She has other things to do and we all know that you are better in this than Mary is," Camilla explained.

"Urgh, the groupie. Fine, I get it. But don't hope for much. I don't know how to deal with them and if I die. I am going to come back to hunt your ass. Got it?" Isabella didn't even wait for an answer and ended the chat.

Camilla let out a breath; her head fell on the desk. She never understood how someone could be friends with Isabella. The blonde was the most annoying vampire in existence.

What did she do to deserve this? Oh, right. Her mother had fucked up.

* * *

Crying, that was the only thing Kate had done since Elena had left her room. Even now that she was in school she felt like crying, but she couldn't. She had cried enough. Heartbreak sucked. To make it worse, she couldn't reach her best friend. Caroline seemed to be MIA. The blonde didn't answer her phone and didn't react to the doorbell. Kate had stopped at Caroline's house this morning, picking her up like she did everyday, but no one answered the door. It was normal that mostly only Caroline was home. As the Sheriff was rarely home. This time no one answered. Kate thought that maybe her best friend had decided to go to school early to prepare something for the cheerleading practice. But Kate couldn't shake of the bad feeling she had.

The brunette searched for Caroline all over the parking lot and spotted Elena and Stefan instead. Her gaze lingered on the new couple for a while, till it hurt too much and she disappeared inside. The feelings she had were bothering her. Never had she felt this hurt at only the sight of someone. Her hurt grew even worse as she remembered the almost kiss. She caught herself thinking what would have happened if they really had kissed. Would she have still given up Stefan for her sister or would she simply go for him?

Kate's hand brushed through her hair, making it messy. If she had ever felt this way before she didn't remember it. Once again, she cursed her memory loss.

Suddenly she felt someone drag her into the girls' restroom. It was Bonnie.

"What the hell, Bonnie?" The brunette exclaimed and rubbed her arm as Bonnie let go of her.

"Have you seen Caroline? She isn't answering her phone," Bonnie got straight to the point.

"No. Who am I her babysitter?" Bonnie was perplexed how rude Kate sounded.

"She is your best friend," The girl reasoned, "You are always together. You drive to school together."

"I tried it at her home, but she wasn't there. Maybe she is in school already or she decided to go shopping."

"Are you listening to yourself. Caroline might be missing and we both know that you are as worried as I am. What is going on with you, Kate?" Bonnie asked.

Kate avoided to look into Bonnie's eyes and took her lower lip between her teeth. The whole Stefan-thing was harder on her than she thought.

"Is it about your memories?" Kate shook her head, "Caroline?", Again she shook her head. Bonnie thought about what else could bother Kate. The only other thing that had happened where Jeremy and Elena and Stefan.

"Is it about Jeremy or is it about Elena and Stefan?" Kate let out a small humourless laugh out as she mentioned Elena and Stefan.

"What would bother you about Elena and Stefan? I mean only if you…" Bonnie stopped talking as she realised what was wrong with Kate, "Oh my god. You are in love with him. You are in love with Stefan."

"What? No, I am not," Kate denied, although she knew it wouldn't change anything.

Bonnie couldn't believe it. The two of the Gilbert twins had fallen in love with Stefan.

"Don't do that Kate. I promise you that I won't tell Elena or Stefan about this," As shocked as Bonnie was at this revelation, Kate was her friend and if she had to keep her feelings for Stefan a secret in front of Elena she would.

Kate put her face in her hands, "Thank you, Bonnie."

"Sad now is that I can tell you about the bad feeling I got from Stefan as I touched him," Bonnie tried to joke to lighten the mood a bit.

"Bad feeling?" Kate asked and lifted her head again.

"It was nothing, okay. We should try to find Caroline. I will go ask Elena and you will look for her at her favourite places," Bonnie ran out of the restroom before Kate could question her about the bad feeling.

The thing about the bad feeling didn't leave Kate's mind. She never thought that someone could get a bad feeling from Stefan. From Damon maybe, but not from Stefan. It just didn't sound right.

* * *

The mood Kate was in forbid her to see Tanner. She would have gotten detention if she had to see her history teacher today. Instead of going in her history class she decided to spend her time in the forest next to the school. She sat on a bench, trying not to think about Stefan or the missing Caroline. Kate heard someone coming closer to her. The brunette thought that some of the teacher had found out where she was, but it wasn't a teacher. A teacher wouldn't offer her a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Wanna get drunk, Gilbert?" Tyler Lockwood asked her with a big grin on his face, "Looks like you could need it."

"Be my guest, Lockwood," Kate snatched the bottle off him.

A few minutes later the bottle was empty and the two teenagers were sitting on the forest ground laughing. Kate was drunk, although she claimed that she was only a bit tipsy.

"So, what do you think about the new guy?" Tyler asked Kate, as they stopped laughing.

"Stefan?" Kate picked up the empty bottle again.

"Yeah, who else is new?" Tyler said sarcastically and took the bottle from her, as she tried to drink out of it, "The bottle is empty. You know that, right?"

"Sure I know that, but I fell so cool drinking out of an empty bottle," Surprisingly, Kate spoke very clear when you considered the fact that she had drunk the bottle alone.

Tyler laughed, "Good to know, but really now. What do you think about Salvatore?"

"Which one?"

"What?"

"Well, there is Zach Salvatore, their uncle. Then there is Stefan. Hot, nice and my sister's boyfriend Stefan. Oh, let's not forget Damon, Stefan's brother. Arrogant, cocky, hot, annoying, handsome and the blue eyes. I love his eyes, they are so blue."

Tyler laughed at Kate's rambling, "Sounds like you have a thing for this Damon."

"Damon? Nope, never. I hate him. I like Stefan and I hate Damon. Stefan, not Damon," Kate rambled.

"So, you are in love with Salvatore?" Tyler asked, trying not to laugh. He had to admit from all three Gilberts, he liked Kate the best.

"Are we talking about Damon or Stefan?"

"Stefan!"

"Right, my sister's boyfriend. I am not allowed to be in love with him," She whispered the last part in his ear, "Don't tell anyone."

She started to giggle. Tyler shook his head, "Yeah, you are starting to get ridiculous. We should go back to school and find you something to get you sober."

"No, I don't want to," Kate pouted, but Tyler ignored it, lifted her up to her feet and dragged her back to school. He might like her the best, but he always forgot how ridiculous she could get if she was drunk.

* * *

Tyler had given her some coffee and then had left her alone on the bleachers, so he could go to football practice. Kate was lying on the bleachers, she had already finished her coffee, but she still felt tipsy. She didn't want to watch the football practice. She never understood the rules, both Matt and Tyler had tried to explain it to her, but she still didn't get it. She could go watch the cheerleading practice, but she was just too lazy for that. Lying on the bleachers in the sun, sounded much better than seeing Caroline playing dictator.

"Kate? Are you alright?" She heard someone asked. Kate lifted her head and saw Stefan.

"Stefan," She jumped up and pulled him into a hug. Stefan went completely stiff. He didn't expect her to jump him.

"It is so nice to see you again," She pulled away from him and lost her balance. Before she could fall Stefan caught her.

"Thank you, Stefan," The brunette giggled and couldn't stop.

"Are you drunk?" Stefan asked suspicious.

"Just a bit tipsy. Not completely drunk," Kate was still giggling, but then she stopped suddenly, "Okay, I think I am going to throw up."

She ran down the bleachers, but didn't make it far before she threw up. Stefan had followed her and held back her hair as she emptied her stomach next to the bleachers. As she was finished he gave her a tissue and a bottle of water.

"Thank you again. I am so never going to get drunk again. At least not in school," She took a sip out of the bottle.

"Drunk? I thought you were only tipsy," Stefan joked.

"Alert the media, Stefan made a joke," Kate laughed.

"It seems you are already better," Stefan took her hand and let her back to sit with him on the bleachers.

"Not the worst that had happened to me. I think waking up in the hospital without a clue who I was is worse," She put her hair in a ponytail, so that if she threw up again it wouldn't be in the way.

"And what was yesterday?" He asked cautious.

"Are you talking about my panic attack or that we would have kissed if my phone hadn't rung?" Kate still was hurt about that. She felt used and betrayed. It wasn't her intention to talk with Stefan about, but next to hurt she also felt anger.

"Kate…" Stefan was interrupted by Kate.

"Don't. I get it. You want Elena and I am just your friend. If I am only your friend, then please don't give me mixed signals. Don't almost kiss me or tell me to stay away from your brother if I am only your friend. Think about that," With that Kate left Stefan alone and walked towards the cheerleaders.

To her surprise she saw Elena under them. She was talking with Bonnie. Kate approached the two.

"You are cheerleading again?" Kate asked her twin.

"Yes, it was time again," Elena answered, her gaze wandered over her sister something was wrong with her, "Where were you in history?"

"I didn't felt like seeing Tanner today. So, I ditched class," Kate shrugged her shoulder and before Elena could lecture her, she asked them, "Is Caroline here?"

"No, she isn't. This is not like her," Elena said. She took a sip out of her bottle and placed it beside her on the floor, "Oh, before I forget it. Stefan and Bonnie are coming to dinner tonight. Will you be there too?"

Kate didn't know what she should answer. After what had happened with Stefan just minutes ago, she didn't really want to see him this soon again. It was the pleading look Bonnie gave her, that made her decide to join them. She was sure that Bonnie didn't want to be alone with Stefan and Elena, because of the bad feeling she had gotten from Stefan.

"Okay, I will be there," Kate agreed, "But only if you take care of the food."

"I will go pick something up," Elena laughed.

"Can someone cook in the Gilbert household?" Bonnie asked between laughter.

"Depends on your definition of cooking," Kate giggled.

"I think I'll try to call Caroline again," Bonnie grabbed her phone and dialled Caroline's number.

A car drove on the parking lot. Kate could hear the rock music playing in the car, but more interesting was that Caroline sat in the car.

"Oh my god. Is that the mystery guy from the Grill?" Bonnie asked.

Kate knew the guy Caroline was with it was Damon Salvatore and she didn't like it one bit.

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore," Elena explained as she stood up.

"Salvatore? As in Stefan?" Bonnie asked. Elena nodded her head, but what bothered her wasn't the fact that Caroline had arrived here with Damon. It was her sister's reaction. Kate's eyes were focused on Damon and he started right back at her. There was something between them she couldn't explain and it scared her.

Caroline climbed out of the car and as she passed Elena she said, "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind."

Kate's eyes didn't leave Damon's. As Elena touched her shoulder, Kate broke her and Damon's staring contest, to look at her sister. Elena pointed at Caroline. As Kate looked at Damon again, he was already driving away.

Kate approached Caroline, "Care, can we talk?"

"No, I don't have time for you now, Katherine," Caroline said.

"Katherine? Since when are you calling me Katherine?" Kate grabbed Caroline's arm, to stop her from walking away, "What is going on with you?"

"Nothing, how about you leave me alone," Caroline spat.

Kate eyed the scarf Caroline wore, "Since when are you wearing scarves?"

"Leave me alone, Kate," Caroline freed her arm and turned to the other cheerleaders.

Kate knew that something was wrong and she bet that Damon was the reason behind her best friends behaviour.

* * *

Dr Charles Grant was sitting in his office, preparing everything for Kate Gilbert. With his hand he brushed through his brown hair, which slowly started to turn grey. He blamed it on all the stress he had. He took the picture of his wife and his daughter, a smile appeared on his face.

"I never understood why someone would move to a small town. What is so fascinating about them?" In front of Charles stood a tall man. He had shaggy brown hair and green eyes. The man wore black trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket. The features on his face were hard and the look he gave Charles was one filled with amusement.

"What are you doing here, Alec? You know what your sister will do if she finds out that you are here," Charles threatened, put down the picture and stood up.

"My sister isn't here and I don't wear her wrath. She has to many weaknesses lying out in the open. It will bring me a lot of pleasure to destroy her piece by piece, but I am not in town because of her," Alec sat down, not even caring about the pure hate in Charles' eyes, "I heard the doppelganger is here. Although it is quite strange that there are two doppelgangers, Kate and Elena Gilbert. I have to fight the urge to kill them. It must be their faces."

"You won't touch them. They are nothing like Katherine and if you would kill them, Klaus would murder you and everyone you ever cared for," Charles hate for the man in front of him was clear in his voice.

"I am a vampire. I don't care and I certainly don't fear your pathetic threats, Charles," Alec stood up and lent over the desk. His face was in line with Charles. An evil smirk was on Alec's face as he saw the old man shake in anger. Charles' eyes were fixed on his desk, but as he lifted his gaze and saw Alec's smirk, he had enough.

Alec felt the pain rise in his head; he grabbed his head between his head. He was cursing the warlock in front of him.

"You will leave and won't come back," Charles threatened.

The pain in Alec's head stopped and he growled, ready to attack the man. Before he could do that he smelled a familiar scent and hear the to him so familiar steps.

"The next time you do that you will be dead," Alec growled.

The door opened and Charles took his eyes off Alec, to see Kate standing there. As he looked back to Alec he had disappeared. It seemed like he had to speed up their plan.

* * *

Kate entered the house and heard her sister and Bonnie in the kitchen. It was then that she remembered that Stefan would come over tonight, she had forgotten about it. She walked into the kitchen and stole a noodle out of the wrapping. Elena slapped her sister's hand away.

"Stop that. We are eating together with Stefan, not now," Elena scold her sister, that lead to a pouting Kate.

"But I am hungry now," Kate protested childishly. Elena ignored her and put the food in bowls.

"Okay, what were you two talking about before I came here?" Kate asked and took another noodle, but this time it was Bonnie who slapped her hand away.

"Bonnie thinks that she is a psychic and I don't believe her," Elena explained, smiling at her twin.

"Come on, guys. I mean it. Today I am obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14 and 22. How weird is that?" Bonnie exclaimed, hoping that that would convince the twins.

"What do you think Elena?" Kate asked and Bonnie heard from the tone that the girl was mocking her.

"Maybe we should play the lottery," Elena said. Elena started to laugh, while Kate only had a small smile on her lips.

Neither one of them took this serious. She had done the same at the beginning but now, she started to ask herself if she really was a witch.

"Have you talked to your gran?" Elena asked as both her and Kate had calmed down.

"She is just going to say it is because I am a witch. I don't wanna be a witch," She turned to Elena," Do you wanna be a witch?"

"I don't wanna be a witch. Ask Kate," Kate looked at her in shock, she had been distracted stealing noodles.

"Stop eating away the food," Elena declared and took the bowl away from her sister.

"This is my food. It's the vegetarian noodles and no one in this house except for me is a vegetarian. The rest of you is eating harmless little animals, who get slaughtered and …" Elena interrupted her twin's rambling.

"I get it, but you are supposed to eat with all of us and not alone. Wait till Stefan is here," Elena explained to her once again pouting twin.

"You know, putting the food in a nice bowl isn't going to fool anybody," Pointed Kate out.

Elena ignored her and started to search for the serving spoons. To the surprise of both twins Bonnie knew where they were. Elena thought it might be because Bonnie had been in their kitchen many times. Kate didn't. She also had been in this kitchen many times, but she still had problems finding the simplest things, like cups. As the doorbell rang, Elena went to answer it.

Bonnie lent over to Kate, "Do you want to talk with me about you and Stefan?"

"No, I don't. Especially not then when he is just outside our door," Kate stood up, to set up the table.

* * *

Dinner could be described as awkward. No one talked. Elena tried to make some conversation, but it was useless neither Bonnie nor Kate were really enthusiastic to have a conversation with Stefan. Elena decided to make Bonnie talk about her family. Bonnie only told him the basic.

But Elena meant something completely different, "No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. I's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie tried to shrug it off, looking at her best friend angrily.

"I don't think witches are cool. I mean the pointy hat, the big nose, the bed teeth and let's not forget the wart. Who wants to be a witch?" That comment earned her a kick in the shin from Elena.

"Kate," Elena said warningly and Kate lifted her arms in surrender. That happens when she is trying to help her friend.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan told Bonnie. Kate asked herself how he could know all these things, but like she had heard he was extremely good in history.

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie informed him.

"Really? Salem Witches?" Bonnie nodded at his question. "I'd say that's pretty cool."

"Why? What is so interesting about Salem Witches?" Kate asked, she never had been very interested in witches.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," With that Stefan had won Bonnie over, because she agreed with him. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud. Elena had a smile on her face, happy that she had managed it that Bonnie seemed to warm up to Stefan and that Kate had been on her best behaviour.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Kate jumped up, "I'll go get it."

Kate opened the door and was greeted with a 'surprise' from Caroline. Behind Caroline stood Kate's least favourite person, Damon.

"Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," Caroline held up a cake and gave it to Kate as she entered the house.

"Hope you don't mind," Damon's eyes once again were only fixed on Kate.

"I don't mind her or the cake, but you on the other hand. You won't set a foot in my house," Kate smirked and mocked his earlier words, "Hope you don't mind."

She was about to close the door as Elena and Stefan approached.

"Kate, what are you doing?" Wanted Elena to know.

"Your sister here is being very rude," Damon's eye didn't even leave Kate. She hated the way he looked at her.

"I am not rude. I just don't want a guy who as a creeper crow in my house. That's not rude, but precaution and…" Elena interrupted her sister.

"Kate, stop it."

"Fine, do whatever you want. I am in the kitchen. If he does something it is all on you, Elena," With another glare at Damon, what made him only smirk more, Kate disappeared in the kitchen.

* * *

The conversation in the living room wasn't off much interest for her. She didn't felt like joining them. Damon seemed to try to ruin her sister and Stefan's relationship and she didn't felt like taking part in his plan. She decided to clean up the table, while trying to find out how Damon had gotten Caroline to help him. With the last glass in her hand she turned around, as suddenly Damon stood there. Shocked she let the glass in her hand fall but before it touched the floor Damon caught it.

"Nice save," For a moment Kate forgot that she hated Damon. She was reminded of her hatred for him as she saw his cocky grin as he gave her the glass.

"Aren't you the least bit happy to see me again, Kate?" Damon asked the brunette and invaded her personal space. It was bothering Kate.

Kate swallowed as she felt his breath on her face, "Not even a tiny bit," She stepped back and put the glass in the dishwasher.

"I heard that you are the sister without memories," Kate looked at him, shaking her head.

"Let me guess. Caroline told you that," Something in her head made click and she pushed Damon against the counter. Kate had her hands on his chest, holding him in place. To Kate's satisfaction, Damon didn't have a smirk on his face. His eyes were focused on her lips.

"If you plan on using me in your pissing contest with your brother, because of the whole Katherine-thing. I would recommend you to forget it and if you dare to hurt Caroline then I am going to make your life a living hell. That's a promise, Damon," Kate whispered, knowing that because of their closeness he could hear every word. With a smirk Kate moved away, but she wasn't prepared for Damon turning them around.

It had happened so fast that Kate couldn't really tell what had happened. She found herself pressed against the counter by Damon's body, his lips brushed over her neck. Earlier she had been in control, but now it was Damon's turn. The brunette closed her eyes, trying to ignore the way her body reacted to Damon's touch. His hands were holding her by her waist. Kate hated the way his scent affected her. The mixture of leather, mint and something that smelled a bit like iron was clouding her mind. She just hated him more for this. His lips moved from her neck to her ear.

His breath tickled her ear as he whispered, "Your threats don't scare me."

Kate pushed him off her, "Leave me alone, Damon."

Kate left the kitchen, feeling Damon's gaze following her. She grabbed her jacket and left the house. She decided to go to the Grill.

* * *

_Kate was lying on her bed, wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts and reading a book. Her bedroom door opened and Stefan entered._

"_Stefan? What are you doing here?" Kate asked. She put her book away, stood up and walked towards Stefan._

"_What are you…" Stefan interrupted her by taking her face in his hands. He lent down, their breath mixed and his nose brushed against hers. Kate closed her eyes, not believing what was happening, her brain started to shut down. She didn't care that this was her sister's boyfriend. She breathed in his smell leather, mint and iron._

"_Damon," Kate breathed out. As she opened her eyes, she didn't saw Stefan, but Damon. But instead of moving away, Kate moved closer__. __She closed her eyes as she felt his lips lightly touching hers. Her hands went into his hair to pull him to her._

Kate sat up in her bed, breathing heavy. She huffed and let herself fall back in her pillows. In her dream she had kissed Damon and liked it. It had felt so real, his scent, his lips on hers and his hair in her hands. She didn't even liked Damon. Why was she dreaming about him? In her dream she wanted to kiss him. Kate shook her head, maybe she was only dreaming about because of the incident in the kitchen. He had been so close to her then. It was completely normal to dream about a hot guy.

This was strange. Something about Kate was different. Damon watched the Gilbert house with his thoughts by Kate. He had had a hard time entering her mind. It was harder than entering her twin's mind, but he managed it. He let her dream about his brother and then he would appear. He thought that Kate would react the same way Elena did. She surprised him by kissing him. The girl was intriguing and that not only just because of her resemblance with Katherine. He would find out what was so special about Kate Gilbert.

* * *

The next morning Kate was sitting on her sister's bed texting Caroline, who was still ignoring her. Next to laid Elena's cheerleading uniform. It was a mystery to Kate why Elena would start cheerleading again. The first time Kate had heard that Elena was a cheerleader she had been surprised. Her sister didn't seem the cheerleading type, not like Caroline. Elena came in the room, a towel wrapped around her. With a thoughtful expression she looked at her uniform. Then she went over to her mirror and took the picture of her in her cheerleading uniform in her hand.

"Do you think I should quit cheerleading?" Elena asked her twin.

Kate put her phone away, "Do you still want to do it, Elena? I have no idea what I should tell you. You have to decide that yourself."

"I don't know. I feel like I only started cheerleading because Mom wanted that, but now that she is gone. I don't know if I still will have the same fun," Elena explained and sat down next to Kate.

Kate smiled, shaking her head, "It is your life, Elena. You don't have to live it the way they wanted you to live it. Make your own faults. If you think that you can't go cheerleading again, so don't. Don't let their memory stop you from making your own choices."

"You are giving me a lot of speeches recently," Elena joked.

"That is all your fault. You are always asking me for advice," Kate said, making Elena laugh.

"You know, Kate. You are a great sister, even though you don't remember everything, but you are a great sister," Elena hugged her sister, before she got dressed.

Once again, Kate had the feeling that something wasn't right. What Elena had told her was wonderful, but still there was this feeling that she didn't belong here.

* * *

Kate was sitting with a book on a bench, waiting for the game to start. Her attention wasn't on the book. She could see Tanner starting to speak. That didn't interest her much. Not far from her she could see her brother, getting drunk. Kate packed her book away and headed towards her brother, but Tyler already approached her brother. That wouldn't end good. Before she could reach them, they had already started to fight.

"Jeremy, stop it," Kate screamed, but Jeremy didn't listen.

Stefan went between the two. Jeremy took the broken bottle but instead of hurting Tyler he cut Stefan's hand. Elena pulled Jeremy away but he just pushed her away from him. Kate was watching the blood on Stefan's hand. Without thinking she ran to him and took his hand.

"Your hand. Is it deep?" Kate asked with concern, trying to see his injury.

"No, no, it's fine," Stefan took his hand out of hers.

Kate ignored him and took his hand. To her surprise there wasn't a cut just some dried blood.

"But I thought I saw it," She was confused. It didn't make any sense. She was sure that she had seen him get hurt. There had been blood.

"He missed. It's not my blood," Stefan wiped the blood off his hand. He showed her his hand to prove that he wasn't hurt, "See? I'm fine."

"I saw it too," Elena said. Kate hadn't realised that Elena had been standing next to them the whole time.

"I'm okay. It's almost kickoff time, all right? So, I'll see you after the game," He said trying to calm the twins down, before he left the two girls alone and confused.

"You saw it too. There was a cut in his hand," Elena searched confirmation from her twin.

Kate nodded, "I saw the blood. I was so sure that there was a cut, but he didn't have one. How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I have to go look for Bonnie," Elena run off, leaving Kate back frustrated.

"Yeah, just run off, leaving me alone. Not like I care," Kate said to herself and shook her head.

Something was up with Stefan. He had a secret and she would find out what it was.

* * *

Kate was searching for Stefan and found herself on the parking lot. There she saw her twin sister and Damon. Keeping her distance, Kate tried to figure out what was going on. Damon moved closer to Elena as if he wanted to kiss her and Kate was sure that that was his intension. Before he could come nearer Elena slapped him and left him standing alone. Kate started to laugh. With a smirk on her face she approached Damon, who looked like he could murder someone.

"You think that this is funny?" The anger was clear in his voice.

"I think it was hilarious," Once again Kate surprised herself and leaned closer into Damon, "Seems to me like your plan isn't working. For me it seems quite low to go after your brother's girlfriend."

Kate started to play with one of her curls. Damon took a step towards her, which lead to her taking one step backwards. This was repeated several times till her back was against Elena's car. Kate let go of her curl and her smirk was gone from her face, while the smirk on Damon's face was back. He took one of her curls between his fingers and leaned closer so that their lips were barely touching.

"What if I go after his girlfriend's sister?" He was staring in her eyes with his piercing blue ones.

His fingers were still playing with her curl. His free hand was on Kate's hip, his thumb was brushing against a piece of exposed skin on her hipbone, sending shivers through her. She felt his breath on her lips. His intoxicating smell in her nose, made her remember her dream. Every fibber in her body wanted to kiss him. Kate tried to clear her head.

"I am not interest in you, Damon. I don't like arrogant assholes," Kate pushed him from her and left, still feeling Damon's body against her own.

The things he made her feel just added to her list of reasons, why she hated Damon.

* * *

Kate was still searching for Stefan and found herself once again on the parking lot. This time she saw Damon and Stefan. She hid behind a car, but she didn't hear anything. Tanner came out, wanting Stefan to come in the locker rooms. Suddenly Damon was sinking his teeth in Tanner's neck. Kate put her hand over her mouth. Damon let her history teacher fall to the ground and turned around. His mouth smeared with blood. With a few last words to Stefan he disappeared.

Kate started to cry, her hands couldn't stop the whining that came out of her mouth. Through the noise coming from her, Stefan realised that Kate had just seen his brother murder someone.

"Kate," Her name fell of his lips. He wanted to walk to her, but she turned around and ran away.

Damon had killed Tanner by drinking his blood. Why did he do that and how could he do that? Could Stefan do the same thing? There were so many questions running through her mind. It seemed like she had found out what Stefan's secret was.

* * *

Answer, she wanted answers. That was why she was standing in front of the boarding house. The door wasn't locked that didn't surprise her anymore. Now these entire animal attacks made sense and it was no wonder that the Salvatores didn't lock their door. She entered the boarding house and was impressed. Although she had been in the house before it still was breath taking.

"Kate?" Kate heard a voice behind her say. She turned around and saw Stefan, guilt written over his face.

"I know what I saw. Damon killed Tanner. He drank his blood," Kate was still trying to process what she had seen. Tears were once again running down her face.

Stefan took a step to her, but she lifted her hand, "No, don't. Stay there."

"What is he? What are you? What is going on here?" Kate asked in panic.

"Kate, please. I…" Stefan couldn't even finish his sentence as Kate interrupted him.

"You what? Want to have some time to think about what lie you are going to feed to me? I want to know. Caroline might be in danger," The brunette was doing her best not to have a complete breakdown.

"No, No. I swear that I'll make sure that he won't harm her," Stefan tried to calm her.

He reduced the space between them, slung his arms around Kate, pulling her in his chest. Kate let him, tired of fighting with him.

"Please, tell me," Kate begged him.

Stefan closed his eyes, fighting with himself. She had seen what Damon had done. It would have been easy to simply compel her, but he couldn't.

"Damon and I are vampires," He forced himself.

He felt how Kate moved away from him. As he opened his eyes he saw her shaking her head.

"That is impossible. That isn't real," Kate paced the room up and down.

"Kate," Stefan stopped her pacing, "I'll explain everything to you, if you let me."

"Are you going to hurt me?" Kate asked remembering that Stefan too was a vampire.

"I could never hurt you, Kate. I only want to talk. Please, let me explain," Stefan begged.

Relief ran through him as Kate nodded her head.

* * *

Kate ended up falling asleep, after Stefan had told her everything about vampires. She slowly had started to trust him again and promised him not to tell Elena. He in turn had to promise to her that he would tell Elena if he was ready. Stefan brought Kate in one of the many bedrooms of the boarding house after she had fallen asleep.

While Stefan was writing in his diary, Kate had a visitor. Damon was standing over her bed, watching the girl sleep. Looking at her awaken a spark of something inside of him. His fingers brushed over her cheek, feeling her soft skin. She had just seen him kill someone, had found out about vampires and decided to fall asleep in a house in which two lived. The girl definitely was something special.

* * *

Camilla was with her father in his study. He had just told her about his encounter with Alec.

"What are we going to do now with Alec in town?" Camilla asked her father, "That changes everything."

"No, it doesn't," Charles declared, "The only thing that changes is that we have to move faster."

Camilla knew what her father meant, "It is too early."

"We can't wait any longer," Charles barked, "The longer we wait the bigger is the risk that Alec finds out what is going on. We have no other choice."

He opened a drawer and took out a vial with a red liquid in it. He handed it over to his daughter.

"You know what you have to do," Camilla nodded her head.

* * *

**I decided to introduce some more new characters. I'll give you a little spoiler Alec and Isabella will play important rolls later in the story.**

**Now, don't forget to review, because they make me happy and if I am happy I'll feel more inspired to write.  
**

**xoxo Lynn  
**


	4. Family Ties

**A new chapter.**

**I thank all the people who reviewed the last chapter and I hope you will love this chapter.  
**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**Family Ties**

"_Let me summarize. You and your brothers have been vampires since 1864 and you were both turned by Katherine Pierce. Neither one of you can turn into a bat and you don't sparkle in the sun. You burn, but your ring protects you. You have to invite a vampire in or he can't enter the house. Vampires are weakened by vervain and a wooden stake through the heart kills you. Vervain also prevents compulsion. You drink animal blood and Damon drinks human blood, that's why he is stronger than you. Did I got everything right?" Kate asked Stefan._

"_Yeah, but you forgot how you become a vampire," He reminded her._

"_Right. You have to die with vampire blood in your system and then have to drink human blood to complete the transition," Kate huffed. _

Kate once again was with her thoughts with the conversation she and Stefan had had the night before. It was still hard for her to think about Damon killing Tanner. She had hated her history teacher, but she had never wished death upon him. Worse she found was that Damon's face smeared with blood didn't leave her mind. In a dream she had kissed him and the times he invaded her personal space, driving her insane. She was completely unaware of the danger she had been in all the time. In her kitchen with Damon's lip on her throat, he could have easily bitten her. Her biggest concern was Caroline. Kate didn't even want to imagine what he would do to the blonde.

While thinking about Damon, Kate had been pacing through the room she had woken up. It wasn't her room. She was still in the boarding house, where she had fallen asleep the night before. Stefan must have brought her here. The room was beautiful, bigger then her own and the bed was more comfortable then her own.

"Well, well. If this isn't Kate Gilbert," Kate froze as she heard Damon's voice, "I heard that you found out our tiny little secret."

She didn't dare to turn around, fear paralysing her. A pair of arms slung around her waist. Damon's nose brushed over her shoulder to her neck, breathing in her lemony ginger scent. She could feel his chest against her back. Her heart started to beat faster, but Kate wasn't sure if it was because of fear or something completely different. He placed kisses over her carotid artery. Kate closed her eyes and moaned, making Damon smile.

"Stop," Kate breathed out.

"Are you sure you want me to?" Damon asked her and turned the brunette around.

He lifted her chin so that she looked him straight in the eyes. His thumb brushed over her lower lip. He leant down, their noses touching. As Kate's eyes landed on Damon's lips, she remembered what he had done. She could see the blood and now she realised what the iron smell was. Damon smelled like leather, mint and blood.

"Yes, I do," Kate said with newfound strength and pushed the vampire off her.

"The only thing I want from you is that you stay away from Caroline. If you dare to hurt her I'll personally drive a stake through your heart," She threatened, ignoring her fear for the vampire in front of her.

"Your threats don't scare me, Kate. We both know that you can't kill me, because deep down you care for me," Damon whispered in her ear. His hand brushed down her arm, making her shutter, but not in fear.

"I don't. I care about Caroline. You mean nothing to me," She whispered harshly.

Damon grabbed her arm, making it impossible for her to move away from him.

"I would pay attention to what you say. One day I might forget myself," Damon's threat scared her.

She had seen what he was capable of and it might not be her he would kill, but maybe Caroline or someone else. He let go of her arm and disappeared. Kate let out a calming breath. Although she knew that Damon was dangerous, her body was always reacting to his touch. She hated it.

* * *

The news was on the TV as Kate came home. Apparently they had captured the animal that had caused the attacks. She didn't thought so. Damon was still running around. The story certainly was a cover-up. Kate shook off her tension because of the whole vampire-business.

"Scum ball. Scum bucket," She heard her aunt say.

"Who are you talking to?" Kate asked her aunt as she entered the kitchen.

"Him," Jenna pointed at the news speaker, not even looking at Kate or Elena, who was also in the kitchen.

"The news guy?" Elena asked while she was drinking her cup of coffee. Kate sat down at the table on which were lying the things for the loan.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mom tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" It was clear that Jenna hated that guy.

"Really, you moved away because of him? What did he do?" Kate was curious.

"He's cute," She added as an afterthought.

"He is not cute. There is nothing cute about him," Jenna said upset.

"So, is he the guy with mommy issues, amphetamine issues or cheating issues," Kate questioned with a smile on her face.

"You still remember that?" Elena asked in disbelieve.

"What. Do you think just because I forgot all my life that I have a bad memory? That just sounded extremely stupid," Kate shrugged.

Jenna and Elena laughed, shaking their heads. Kate looked at the items on the table.

"Are that the things Mom wanted to loan to Mrs Lockwood for the heritage display?" Kate asked Elena.

"Yes, I got them yesterday from the safe deposit box," Elena answered while she cleaned one of the things.

Jeremy joined them and took the watch, "How much do you think this stuff is worth, you know like on eBay?"

"You are not going to sell anything of this stuff on eBay," Kate told her brother off, took the watch away from him and gave it back to Elena.

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't give it away," He nagged as he went to grab himself something to eat.

"We're not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy," Elena explained to him. The doorbell rang and Elena went to answer it, leaving Jenna and Kate alone. Jeremy had already disappeared again.

"Where were you last night?" Jenna turned to Kate. She had one eyebrow lifted and her arms crossed. Kate knew what would come now. She was surprised that Jenna hadn't say anything earlier.

"Trick or Threating," Kate answered seriously.

"Yesterday wasn't Halloween," Jenna pointed out.

"Yeah, I realized that too, but I decided to start early. There weren't any little kids who could steal away all my sweets."

"Where are you sweets now?"

"I already ate them."

"Kate, tell me where you were?"

"Okay. Wow, no one in this house gets a joke. I was at Caroline's," Kate rather told her aunt that then telling her that she had spent the whole night at Stefan's.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her aunt asked.

"It was really spontaneous. I forgot to call," The explanation was lame, but she was lucky, her aunt believed her.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," Kate informed her aunt and went to her room.

In her room Kate takes out her dress for the Founder's Party. It was a blue knee-length stretch bandage dress with scoop neck and short sleeves. Caroline and her had spent hours shopping for the right dresses. It was this blue dress that Kate had wanted from the first moment she had seen it. Seeing the dress she and Caroline had chosen made her miss her best friend. Damon must have messed with her head. It was just another reason to hate that man more than she already did. Kate received a text from Bonnie, asking her to come to the Grill. Caroline wanted to talk with Bonnie about something. Bonnie knew that something had happened between Kate and Caroline and wanted to help. Kate let her dress lying on her bed and went to the Grill, hoping that she could talk with Caroline.

Caroline was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that Kate was late and had just missed the blonde, but she saw something much more interesting. Her brother was talking with Vicki Donovan. Kate licked Matt, but she didn't like his older sister Vicki. The girl had a drug problem for years and resembled her mother more than anything. The only normal one of the Donovan family was Matt. Kate didn't understand what Jeremy saw in her, the girl would only bring him trouble. The brunette sat down next to her little brother as Vicki went back to work.

"I want to talk with you," She was sure that Jenna and Elena had already talked with him about the drugs, but Kate didn't wanted to talk with him about that.

"You know the only good thing about you was that you weren't bothering me with talking like everybody else. So, keep it that way," Jeremy grunted with an eye roll.

"Oh, I am so sorry. That everyone is bothering you, but with the way your acting it shouldn't be so surprising and lucky for you I don't want to talk about the drugs. I for my part know that you know how incredibly stupid it is not only to take drugs, but also to deal with them. I want to talk about something else," Kate said.

"Really? What?"

"Vicki, she isn't worth it. This girl isn't worth it getting bet up by Tyler for it or to sell drugs to impress her. Do you even realise the trouble she is putting you in?" Kate touched her brother's arm in affection, but he pushed her hand away.

"Stop that. Stop pretending that you are still my sister, because we both know that you aren't. Just leave me alone," Jeremy screamed, "You have no idea through what Elena and I went. Our parents died. For you they were only just some people that you just met. You aren't my sister and will never be my sister again. I wish that it had been you in that car and not Elena. I wish that you had died instead of my parents. You deserve it after everything you put us through."

Kate could deal with a lot. She could accept the fact that vampires were real and that Damon had killed Tanner. Jeremy's words on the other hand had hurt her deeply, because she knew that he was right. Jeremy didn't even feel ashamed at what he just said to his sister, he had meant every word. Kate ran out of the Grill as she felt tears running down her cheeks.

In the alley next to the Grill she stopped and leant against the brick wall. She let herself slide down the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. Her forehead rested on her knees.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kate heard someone ask. It was Bonnie, who had followed her.

"Yeah, I am fine," Kate said sarcastically. Bonnie sat down next to her.

"I heard what he said…" Bonnie started to say but Kate interrupted it.

"I'm sure the whole Grill heard what he said," Bonnie took a tissue out of her purse and handed it Kate. Grateful, Kate accepted it.

"I heard what he said," Bonnie continued, "And he is wrong. You might not be the same Kate we all used to know, but you are still you. Since your memory loss we have become closer. A year ago, I would have called everyone crazy who said that you and Caroline would be best friends. Jeremy is an idiot. Forget what he said because it is rubbish."

"He is still right in one point. I am not his sister. I was never there for him after our parents' death. Although I didn't know them very well, I could have tried to be there for him," Kate said broken.

"Don't listen to him, Kate. Jeremy is an angry teenager. He will realize that what he said to you was wrong. He just needs time," Bonnie reasoned. Kate nodded slightly.

Bonnie stood up and held out her hand to help Kate up. "Let's get you home. I have to help Elena getting ready for her date."

She wiped away her tears and started to walk home with Bonnie, trying to forget what her brother had said to her. But that was easier said then done.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena and Kate were preparing themselves for the Founder's party tonight. They were sitting at the kitchen table, trying to decide what they should do with her nails. Well, at least Kate was. Elena wanted to find out what Bonnie wanted to tell her, but didn't.

"I can't tell you, Elena," Bonnie said, hoping that Elena would bother her anymore.

Instead of that Kate decided to help her sister, "Apparently it has something to do with Stefan or she would have told you already."

"How would you know that?" Bonnie asked.

Kate shrugged her shoulders, "Easy, you want to tell her about it tomorrow. People only want to tell you something tomorrow if they are too tired and want to go to bed or because whatever you have to tell them might ruin their night. Looking at the fact that you don't look very sleepy, I go with the second possibility. That means it has something to do with Stefan."

"Is she right?" Elena asked Bonnie.

"Okay, but is has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed," Elena and Kate nodded, "Apparently, Stefan has a very interesting back story. Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues," Elena explained.

"I know that they are both idiots for letting a girl play them," Kate added, earning an angry 'Kate' from Elena.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon," Bonnie ignored Kate's comment, "And that drove Stefan mad. So he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's" Elena said, not believing one word.

"I just wanted you to know," Bonnie said.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business," Elena declared.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That's your business."  
"Stefan is none of those things."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Kate decided to join the conversation again, "Oh, come on, Bonnie. They still are getting to know each other and every one has a past he wants to forget. Not everyone is as lucky as me and doesn't remember his whole life."

"But it gives you something to think about," Bonnie tried to explain.

"No, it gives you a hell lot insecurities. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Damon is trying to manipulate his brother's relationships? That sounds to me like Damon," Kate told Bonnie.

"Let's stop talking about that," Elena interrupted her twins and her best friend's discussion.

"How about we start to curl Kate's hair?" Elena offered.

"That is a good idea, Elena. Let's go curl Kate's already curly hair and then we are going to straighten your already straight hair. After that we can…"

"Kate."

"Okay, got it. No need to shout, Elena."

The girl moved upstairs to put on their make up and do their hair. Elena's cell phone rang and she left Bonnie and Kate alone.

Bonnie used this to talk with Kate, "Kate, how are you?"

"What do you mean?" Kate decided to do like she had no idea what Bonnie meant.

"You know what I mean. Jeremy, Caroline and Stefan," She reminded the brunette.

"Fine. I am trying not to think about what Jeremy said, although it still bothers me. Caroline isn't talking with me and ignores my existence. I am still in love with Stefan, but I have accepted that he and I are only friends nothing more," Kate told Bonnie.

"And there is nothing more?" Bonnie asked. She had the feeling that there was more.

"I might have the hot's for Damon, but I won't give in, because he is a first rate jackass. That was it."  
"Damon?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"He is hot, you can't deny that," Kate tried to explain herself to Bonnie, who only shook her head.

"You know that he is Caroline's boyfriend. You can't date him"

Kate rolled her eyes, "I know and I said I won't give in to him."

Elena walked back in the bathroom and went straight to Jeremy's bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked her, Elena ignored her.

Bonnie turned to Kate, who only shrugged her shoulders, "I am not his sister anymore. How am I supposed to know?"

"Really, Kate?" Bonnie shook her head in disbelieve. Kate left the bathroom to get dressed.

In her room Kate took her phone and called Stefan. He picked up directly.

"Caroline is Damon's girlfriend. Logically she will take him to the Founder's Party. You have to do something," She told him, before he could say anything.

"I know. I promise you that I'll take care of my brother," He promised her.

"I am scared that he will kill her," Kate said, close to tears.

Stefan tried to calm her, "Kate, calm down. I won't let that happen, okay?"

"I hope that you'll keep your word. She is my best friend," Kate said.

"I promise," He reminded her again.

Calm again, Kate said goodbye to Stefan and ended the call.

She knew that Damon was planning something. He had told Caroline the story of Stefan being crazy. It seemed like the man had nothing better to do than ruining Stefan's life. Kate wanted to make sure that her sister and Caroline wouldn't get hurt in the process.

* * *

At the Founder's Party Kate goal was to get drunk. She tried to get a drink, but she didn't get lucky. While Kate was searching for some alcohol, Charles Grant spotted her.

"Camilla?" He called his daughter.

She came up to him with two drinks in her hands, she gave him one, "Yes, what is it?"

"It is time," He pointed at Kate.

"How am I supposed to give it to her? I can't force her to drink it," Camilla tried to search for an excuse, so she didn't have to do it.

Charles took the vial from her, opened it and put it in his drink, "Give her this."

Camilla shook her head, "I can't."

"We have to," Charles said sadly.

Camilla took the drink and walked towards Kate. She hated this. As she stood behind Kate, she touched the girl's shoulder to get her attention.

Kate turned around and rolled her eyes as she saw who stood there, "What do you want?"

"I thought you might want a drink," Camilla offered Kate the drink.

Although Kate didn't really like Camilla, she was in desperate need of alcohol. She took the offered drink and took a sip out of it.

"Thank you and now you can leave me alone," Kate turned around and left Camilla alone.

Camilla knew that now it was too late. The only thing she hoped for now, was that nothing would happen to Kate.

Kate was walking through the Lockwood house with her drink in her hand, searching for a more quiet room and she found one. It was one of the rooms in which were some of the items for the heritage display. Only a few people were in the room. Someone brushed a hand over her arm and lent into her. Her heartbeat speeded up and she knew who it was.

"Just listen at your heart. Is someone happy to see me?" Kate heard Damon's voice at her ear.

"Maybe I am just afraid of you," Kate simply answered.

Damon laughed, "We both know that you aren't afraid of me and I promise you that I won't harm you."

"Your promises mean nothing to me, Damon," Kate said and turned to face him.

He brushed one of her curls behind her ear. His fingers moved from her ear to her cheek down to her carotid artery. Kate slapped his hand away, before he could move lower.

"What are you trying to do? I get that you tell Caroline fairy tales about your brother, but I don't understand what you want from me. I am the girl without memory, always second best to my sister. I never know when to shut up or to stop talking, because I always have to make a comment to every situation. Dammit," Kate cursed herself. She never had wanted to tell him all this.

To her surprise, Damon didn't say anything to what she had just told him. He took her hand in his and let her out of the room.

"Where are you taking me, Damon?" Kate asked and put her empty glass on a table.

"We are going to dance together," Damon simply answered.

"Dancing?" The girl exclaimed, "Me dancing with you? Can you just simply kill me?"

Damon laughed and pulled her to him as the reached the dance floor. Kate was sure that Damon never heard of something called personal space, because he was once again invading hers. With his hand on her hip, their chest against each other, they danced to the music. Maybe under torture Kate would admit that dancing with Damon wasn't that bad.

"Why Stefan?" Damon asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, trying not to look in his eyes.

"We both know what I mean. I saw your almost kiss. So, why Stefan?" Kate knew that he wouldn't leave it alone.

"Because the girl always marries the good guy," Kate explained and looked into his eyes again.

"Urgh, must be a boring life. The girl could have so much more fun with the bad guy," He lent down, pulling her closer to him by her hip, "My brother is watching us."

Kate's eyes wandered over Damon's shoulder. Stefan stood there, his hands in fist and anger on his face.

"I just don't really know if it is because I didn't stay away from or pure simple jealousy," Damon whispered in her ear, "Seems like my brother has a weakness for you and Elena."

Kate took a step back, freeing herself from him and then she walked away from him towards Stefan.

"I told you to stay away from him, Kate," Stefan hissed.

"Oh, get a grip. I know that I am supposed to stay away from him, but he doesn't stay away from me," Kate acknowledged.

"You have to stay away from him, Kate. He is dangerous and manipulative," Stefan explained to her again, this time calmer.

Kate rolled her eyes, "I know. I saw him kill Tanner. And about Damon being manipulative you are making it very easy for him. You are waiting for him to ruin your relationships. Your whole life seems to turn around your brother. Everything he does to you, you let him. Maybe you should start to ignore his attempts and be honest with Elena, because when she knows everything it will be much more easier for her to trust you."

Before Stefan could say anything in return, Kate run off.

Dancing with Damon, fighting with Stefan was supposed to destroy a girl's mood. Kate entered the bathroom and saw Caroline refreshing her make-up. It seemed that she might have a bit of luck today.

"Caroline," The blonde turned around as she heard her name. She froze as she saw that it was Kate. Deciding to ignore the brunette, Caroline turned back to the mirror. Kate shook her head disbelieving; she put her purse on the counter and turned her best friend around.

"Leave me alone, Kate," Caroline pushed Kate's hands on her arms away. She sounded strange, like she wasn't herself.

Kate's eyes once again were on the scarf Caroline wore. It was strange as Caroline rarely wore scarves, but recently she had worn one everyday. Suddenly she spotted something that was covered by the scarf. It looked like a bite mark.

"What is that?" Kate lifted Caroline's scarf and saw a bite, "Oh my god. Did somebody hurt you?"

Caroline pushed her away and said it was nothing. Kate saw other bites. They were all over her back.

"Did Damon do this?" Kate asked in anger but Caroline denied it.

"Just leave me alone, Kate," Caroline grabbed her purse and fled out of the bathroom.

He had bitten her. Damon had bitten Caroline. Kate couldn't believe it. He had hurt Caroline. He would pay for that. Angry, Kate went searching for Damon. It didn't take her long to find him. He was still outside. As Damon a smug smirk came on his face. She went up to him and slapped him.

"I told you if you dare to hurt Caroline, that I would drive a stake through your heart. Leave her alone or I'll really do it. Got it?" Kate spat.

The smirk on Damon's face disappeared. Kate walked away from him, the next person she wanted to talk to was Stefan. She didn't felt Damon's eyes on her as she walked away from her.

Her eyes wandered over the crowd. She saw Stefan standing alone away from the rest of the party. She went towards him.

"You're brother is insane," Kate said, as she stood right behind Stefan.

He turned towards her, "What did he do?"

"There are bite marks all over Caroline's body and she is acting so strange like he has her all messed up in the head," She looked at Stefan, "You don't look surprised. Please, don't tell me you knew that this would happen?" Kate laughed in disbelieve and started to walk away.

Stefan held her back, "I'm handling it, Kate"

"You know what, Stefan. I don't care if you are handling it or not. Caroline is my best friend and I am not going to let her be your brother's chew toy," Once again Kate tried to walk away but Stefan stopped her.

"Kate, please. Damon is dangerous. You have to stay away from him," Stefan begged her.

"I'm sorry, Stefan. But it is Caroline," This time Stefan didn't stop her.

Kate went back inside the Lockwood mansion, trying to find Caroline, but there was no trace of her.

"Kate," Someone called her name. She turned around and saw Elena running towards her.

"Have you seen the bruises on Caroline?" She asked out of breath as she reached her twin.

"Yeah, Damon did it. I am trying to find her," Kate told Elena.

"Me too. Have you looked outside?" Elena asked.

"No, only in here, but she isn't here. Elena I am afraid that something happened to her," Kate was afraid that she had anger Damon earlier and that now he would kill Caroline.

"Let's look for her outside," Elena offered.

Kate followed her outside. Together the twins found their friend on the lawn where Kate had had the conversation with Stefan earlier

"Caroline, where have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere?" Elena exclaimed.

Kate pulled her friend in a hug and Caroline let her. She started to cry and saying that she was fine all over again. Elena hugged Caroline too, trying to calm her down.

* * *

Elena had decided that they would bring Caroline home. Kate went to get her purse that she had forgotten in the bathroom earlier. She took her purse, but she was grabbed from behind before she could leave again. A hand was put over her mouth, so she couldn't scream.

"It is shocking how much you look like her," He breathed in her scent, "You even smell like her and I am tired to fight the urge to kill you. But no need to be sad, Elena will live. He just needs one of you."

Then she felt the man sinking his teeth in her throat, drinking her blood. Kate felt her body become weaker. She had to fight to stay conscious, but the more blood left her body, the weaker she grew. Then everything went dark and Kate's lifeless body fell on the floor. With a smirk on his face, Alec wiped away the blood from his lips. He watched the now dead girl.

The door opened and Camilla entered. She gasped as she saw Kate lying dead on the floor with Alec standing over her.

"You killed her," Camilla breathed out. She had hoped that nothing would happen to Kate, but she hadn't thought that Alec would kill her.

"Yes, I did. Now, excuse me. I have other things to attend to," Without looking at the dead girl, he left the bathroom.

Camilla kneeled down next to Kate and took out a tissue to clean the blood from her neck. The wounds were already starting to close. The blood was starting to take effect. Camilla put a hand over Kate's forehead and murmured something. As she took her hand away, Kate woke up with a gasp. She looked around confused, not remembering what happened.

"What happened?" Kate asked, her hand rubbed her neck over the place Alec had bitten her.

"You fell. I found you lying here," Camilla explained.

"Oh, okay," Kate said and stood up with Camilla's help, "I have to go. Elena is waiting for me."

Kate started to walk out of the bathroom, but Camilla stopped her, "Wait, don't you want to check if you have a concussion?"

"I feel fine," Kate continued to leave the bathroom.

Camilla could only shake her head at Kate's recklessness. She too left the bathroom, searching for her father.

"Alec killed her," She told him coldly as she stood next to him.

"What?"

"He killed Kate," Camilla repeated again.

Charles said nothing. Their plan was working, but he had a bad feeling in his gut that something would go wrong.

* * *

**I apologize to Silently Tearful, but I had to let Kate be turned into a vampire. I hope you aren't too angry.**

**Now, not forget to review. Reviews make me happy.**

**xoxo Lynn**


	5. Demons

**At last a new chapter. I apologize that it took a while, but I will try to update at least once a week. **

**This is a short chapter between "Family Ties" and "You're Undead To Me". I named it "Demons" because I was listening to the song **_**Demons**_** from **_**Imagine Dragons**_**. It is a beautiful song. **

**Now to the reviews.**

**Tvdlover87654:** Yes, he did. Alec has some issues, but he will be back later in the story.

**ChelseaBaby91:** Yeah, I think everyone wants to know what is with Kate's memory and I promise that you'll find out in time.

**AquaBluez17:** You'll slowly find out why they are doing this and if she will remember.

**Winxgirl1997:** Sorry, that I didn't update sooner but I hope you'll like the new chapter.

**SummerAlina:** Thank you. It warms my heart to hear that you like Kate and I hope that all of you will also like her later on.

**TVDDamonSLover:** Yeah, I love them too. Sadly there won't be any Kate/Damon in this chapter, but I promise there will be in the next one.

**kelsey112:** Oh, I love to confuse people. One of the reason I love writing this story. I have to agree with you that Elena is boring. She started to annoy me in season 3. Katherine on the other hand I couldn't stand in season 1, but started to slowly love her in season 2. And Damon, you just have to love the guy.

**That was it. I love you, guys for reviewing to this story. Hope you'll like this chapter as much as the last.**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**Demons**

The sun had just risen, the birds were chirping outside. It was early and the citizens of Mystic Falls were still sleeping. Kate Gilbert on the other hand couldn't sleep. The sounds of the birds outside her window were hurting her ears. The bit of sunlight that crept into her room was burning in her eyes. Then there was the pain in her gums. It felt like something was trying to pierce through it. Worst of all was her hunger. She felt hungry, but it didn't really feel like normal hunger. Kate tried to ignore it, waiting for the rest of the house to wake up. It was harder than she thought. The hunger was driving her insane.

Throwing back her covers, Kate stood up and went downstairs in the kitchen. Fighting was becoming too hard. She opened the fridge and took out everything that she could find. She made herself a sandwich, but it didn't satisfy her hunger. It had a slightly disgusting taste. Kate made herself a bowl of cornflakes; some eggs, pancakes, toasts and she even tried herself on waffles. Nothing helped. The more Kate ate the more disgusting the food started to taste. With her head in her hands Kate sat at the kitchen table. She was still in that position as Jenna came downstairs.

"What happened down here?" Jenna exclaimed as she saw the chaos in the kitchen. She saw her niece sitting at the table. "What did you do, Kate?"

Kate didn't answer her, because she truly had no idea what was wrong with her. She had never felt this way. Her body was starting to get tired, but at the same time she felt nervous.

"Are you alright, Kate?" Jenna asked, concerned now. She sat down next to Kate and put an arm around her, wanting to comfort her niece. She never got the chance to. Kate jumped up.

"Don't touch me," Kate screamed and ran out of the kitchen, disappearing in her bedroom.

Strangely, as Kate had smelled her aunt's scent, her hunger had risen. She had no idea what that meant, but she wouldn't go near her aunt till she had found out what had happened.

* * *

The Grants were eating breakfast together. There was no conversation, not that it was any different than normally, but this time there was a tension in the air. Both knew that their plan was risky and deadly. Camilla had a feeling that it wouldn't work the way they wanted it, while Charles had the feeling of rising doom. It was a feeling he hated. Even if his daughter thought that he didn't felt guilty, he did. It broke his heart. All their life was bound to this one girl. He had lost so much already he couldn't fail now.

"I still have a bad feeling about this. Something could go wrong," Camilla sighed.

To comfort his daughter he took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze, "Everything is going to be all right. You will be fine."

"And what is with you?" His daughter asked with tears in her eyes.

"Like I said. Everything will be all right," He said. Camilla knew that he was hiding something, like he knew more than she did.

"Is there something you won't tell me?" Camilla asked.

Charles shook his head, let go of her hand and took a sip out of his cup of coffee. His daughter knew that he was hiding a big part of their plan. Camilla would know what to do if the time was ready.

"Dad? What about Alec?" His daughter asked him.

"If the plan works out the way we want, he won't be a problem," Charles simply said, "Believe me Camilla. Alec is the least of our problems. There are bigger ones."

"Are we talking about Katherine's rage or Klaus?" Camilla joked and laughed.

"This isn't funny, Camilla," Charles snapped, "They are dangerous. The plan has to work."

* * *

Elena entered the kitchen when Jenna was cleaning up the mess Kate had left behind.

"Okay, do I really want to know what happened here?" Elena asked.

"I don't think so, but I think you need to know, because I think I need your help," Jenna said and sat down. Elena moved closer to her aunt, concerned now.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked.

"It was Kate. I have no idea what happened to her. I came downstairs and there the chaos was. She had eaten I don't know how much," Jenna ran a hand through her hair, "I hope she wasn't high of something."

"Kate wouldn't do that. She has no reason to get high and even if she did, maybe it was just one time with some friends," Elena tried to find an explanation for her twins behaviour.

"The only friend Kate has is Caroline. What other friends are there?" Jenna reasoned.

Elena thought about that, "Stefan. She and Stefan are friends."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know that."

Suddenly Elena understood what was going on now. Could this have something to do with Caroline? She knew that Kate and Caroline had had a few problems since the blonde and Damon had started to date. Elena didn't know how bad it had been.

"I think I'll go talk to her," Elena decided.

She wanted to go upstairs, but Jenna stopped her, "Too late. After I found her she went upstairs and left the house a few minutes later. She said that she wanted to check up on Caroline and then go to Dr Grant."

Elena nodded; maybe her twin would start to feel better if she met up with Caroline.

* * *

The insanity was slowly getting her. This crazy hunger was in every fiber of her body, controlling her mind and not even Dr Grant's annoying talking could distract her. Her hands were fingering with the hem of her white top. Her body was giving her completely different signals one second she felt tired and the other she wanted nothing more than run through town and find something to satisfy her hunger.

Dr Grant was going through her file as it happened. He cut himself in the finger with a page of her file. Kate's whole body froze as she saw the blood. Hypnotized, her gaze followed the trail the blood took. Was it that what she craved? Blood? She knew that she needed it.

Dr Grant lifted his finger, holding it in front of Kate. The smell of the blood had already been in the room, but now with it right in front of her the smell was stronger. She couldn't resist.

Without a second thought Kate took his finger in her mouth. The delicious taste of blood touched her tongue. It was then everything changed. The nervousness and insanity disappeared there was only blood. It felt like she had starved for months and now she could satisfy her hunger, her thirst. Something sharp pierced through her gums, telling her that she could do more than just suck the blood from the open cut. She let go of Dr Grant. There was something else, something in the back of her mind that she couldn't reach. Kate growled in frustration.

Charles had thought that it was over, but he was wrong. He could feel the frustration raiding from her. He knew what would come now. He closed his eyes and thought about his wife and his daughter, remembered the times they still were all three together.

Kate turned towards Dr Grant with an evil smirk. She didn't thought only followed her instinct. She blurred towards Dr Grant and sunk her teeth in his throat, ripping through skin and flesh. Charles was pressed against the wall with a loud cracking noise. Kate didn't realize her strength, bruising and breaking her victim. For her there wasn't a Charles Grant anymore only something helping her satisfying her hunger. Her finger sank into his flesh, coating her fingers in blood. Bones were breaking and the blood was splattering.

Then there was no blood anymore. Kate took a step backwards, letting the lifeless body of Charles fall to the floor. Slowly, Kate's head cleared. The blood was dripping down her chin. Her clothes were covered in blood. The front of her white tank top wasn't white but red and her jeans had red stains. The blood was in her face, on her hand and even in her hair. Kate knew what was wrong with her. She was a vampire and she had just killed Dr Grant. She tried to remember what Stefan had told her about vampires, but she was panicking and couldn't think properly.

The door opened and the receptionist entered. The woman was about to scream as Kate put a hand over the woman's mouth.

"Don't scream or run," Kate looked into the woman's eyes. The woman went quiet and stopped struggling, as Kate had told her. Kate took her hand of her mouth, grabbed her purse and wanted to leave as she remembered something.

She looked the woman once again in the eyes and compelled her, "I've never been here."

The woman repeated the words.

Kate used the back door and walked out into an alley. Then she ran towards the forest. She had to find Stefan. He could help her. Kate didn't even realize that although she was standing in the sun her skin didn't burn.

Her shoes weren't made for running through the forest. After Kate had enough of falling she took them off and threw them away. Now she was covered in blood and dirt. The taste of Dr Grant's blood still lingered on her tongue and his dead, broken body didn't leave her mind. The tears were streaming down her face. She had no idea how she had gotten vampire blood in her system and no idea how she had died. Nothing made sense to her.

Kate arrived at the boarding house and knocked the door, "Stefan! Please open up! It is important!"

She opened the door, knowing that it was never locked, but the problem was that she couldn't walk inside the house. A vampire had to be invited in first, Kate remembered.

"Stefan!" She called again desperately. There was nowhere she could go. At home she could hurt her family. The only place where she could find help was at the boarding house. Suddenly she heard a pair of footsteps and a heartbeat coming closer. The smell told her that it wasn't Stefan. It was unknown to her. She figured that it was Zach. The heartbeat and the footsteps grew louder as Zach appeared in her sight. Zach stopped in shock at the sight before him. There stood Kate Gilbert covered in blood and dirt from head to toe. It was truly a frightening sight.

"Is Stefan here?" Kate asked, her voice shaking. It took all of her control not to attack Zach when she smelled his fear. His fear was fuelling her hunger, a trill for the hunt.

"I'll get him," He said and took off.

Kate let out a growl in frustration that she couldn't follow him. She shook her head as she realized her thoughts. That wasn't her. She didn't want to kill people. Or was it?

Footsteps and a familiar scent interrupted her thoughts. It was Stefan. His eyes were full of compassion and guilt as he looked at Kate. He stepped outside and took her face in his hands.

"What happened Kate?" He asked her and wiped away her tears with his thumps.

"I don't know," Kate cried, "I killed him, Stefan."

"Who?"

"Dr Grant."

Stefan put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. He promised her to take care of her. His nose was in her hair, taking in her lemony ginger scent that now was laced with blood. Kate's hands were grabbing his shirt, afraid that she would lose it again if she let go of him. Stefan picked Kate up, so that he could carry her inside.

"Zach," Stefan called inside the boarding house. Zach appeared seconds later.

"I need you to invite Kate in," Stefan said.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea, uncle Stefan?"

"Where else can she go? Here is the only place were she won't harm anyone. I have to help her."

Zach nodded and invited Kate in, although he had a bad feeling about having another vampire in the house.

* * *

Kate stood under the shower, replaying Dr Grant's death in her thoughts. It didn't help that the water that disappeared in the drain was red. Showering felt different. It was like she could feel every single drop of water touching her skin. She closed her eyes and lifted her face towards the showerhead. She ran her hands through her hair to make sure that there wasn't any dried blood left in it. When the water cleared and that there was no trace on her that she had ripped a person apart, she turned off the shower. She grabbed a towel and dried herself off. Her clothes were still lying on the floor, where she had left them earlier, still covered in blood. She could smell it. She wrapped the towel around herself and left the bathroom.

Although Stefan wasn't in his room, she still felt save. She walked to his closet and took a shirt out. She didn't want to run around the house only in her towel. She put on the shirt and lay down on Stefan's bed, trying to sleep but she couldn't. What she had done didn't leave her mind. Her decision was to distract herself by walking through the boarding house. She jumped up, to her surprise she suddenly stood in front of the bedroom door. Kate looked behind herself and saw the distance between the bed and the door.

"How the hell did I do that?" She asked herself aloud and stated, "Apparently I am fast."

She turned back to the door and listened if someone was downstairs. Kate heard nothing, no heartbeat. That meant that Zach wasn't home. She didn't want to hurt him.

Walking through the boarding house Kate found a lot of empty bedrooms, she even found the one she had spent the night in, but the last one she entered was by far her favourite. The wooden panelling, the big four-poster bed and the wonderful bathroom made the room really inviting. The room looked like someone lived in it. Wanting to know who, Kate started to search for clues. She had a feeling who it could be, but she wanted proof. On the bed lay a black leather jacket, the closet was full of black clothes and she even found an alcohol stash. She took the leather jacket and breathed in the scent. It was Damon's. With a small smile on her face she sat down on the bed that was very comfortable. Without thinking Kate buried her nose in the leather jacket, taking in the smell. Then it happened. The smell triggered something in her mind.

_She had no idea why she was here, in this dark alley. She didn't know where she was. While she was at it she also had no idea who she was. How do you suddenly forget who you are? She could hear cars. She followed the noises, stumbling slightly. As she reached the street she looked around, trying to find something that she knew but there was nothing. Panic rose in her, she turned around back to the alley and walked backwards. She wanted to bring as much distance between herself and the alley. A bad feeling rose in her at the darkness of the alley. She didn't realise that she was standing in the street and that a car was speeding towards her. Her senses were numb. It was the light that started to blind her that she realized in what situation she was in. It was like everything was in slow motion, she turned towards the car that was getting closer, but she couldn't move. She just stood there and watched. Before the car could hit her she felt an arm around her waist, pulling her away. The next thing she knew she was in the arms of some stranger. He held her close to his chest, his nose in her hair, taking in her scent. Her heart was beating faster. _

_The man pulled away a bit, keeping her close. She could lift her head and look in the face of her saviour. He had this look in his eyes, like he couldn't believe who stood in front of him. It disappeared after a second and was replaced with disappointment._

_Not knowing what else to do, she asked, "Do you know where I am and who I am?"_

_The man looked at her disbelieving and stated, "You have no memories."_

"_I wouldn't ask if I had any, don't you think?" She snapped. She put a hand over her mouth after that. The man only smirked._

_He looked deep into her eyes and said, "Go to sleep now."_

_After he had spoken she really felt asleep, although she hadn't felt tired. She woke up in the hospital. The first thing she did was to look for the stranger, the man who had saved her. To her luck he stood next to her bed._

"_I…" She started, but he interrupted her by putting a finger on her lips. _

_He took her face in his hands, like he had done before. With his thumps he caressed her cheeks and made her look in his eyes._

"_You will go back to sleep and when you wake up you'll forget me," He leant down and kissed her cheek. Once again she fell asleep._

"Damon," Kate gasped. She jumped up, threw the leather jacket on the bed and left the room. She was angry. Damon had compelled her. He had met her before. It must have been seconds after she had lost her memories. He had brought her to the hospital and compelled her. She wanted to rip him apart or at least beat him up. She made her way downstairs. Kate closed her eyes and completely trusted her new heightened senses. She wanted to find Damon and she caught his scent and followed it to the basement. Damon was locked up in a cell, unconscious and weak. She was about to open the door when she felt someone grabbing her arm and turning her around. It was Stefan.

"Let me go, Stefan," Kate struggled to get out of his grasp, "I want to kill him."

"No, you don't," Stefan reasoned calmly.

"Yes, I do. He compelled me. At least let me hurt him," The want to hurt Damon surprised her a tiny bit, but she ignored it.

"Do you really want to kill someone again?" Stefan said. He didn't want to remind her, but he couldn't think of something else to keep Kate from killing Damon.

Kate froze as she remembered Dr Grant, tears started to run down her cheeks. Stefan brushed one of her curls behind her ear.

"Hey, don't cry. Everything is going to be fine," Stefan said soothing.

"I killed someone. How is everything going to be fine? I could hurt someone again."

"I'll teach you, okay? I won't be alone in this. I'll help you."

Kate nodded. It was easy to trust Stefan.

"How about you go upstairs and get dressed? When you're ready I'll teach you how to hunt," Stefan said.

Kate groaned, "I have to hunt animals?"

"Kate…" Stefan couldn't even finish his sentence as Kate interrupted him.

"Okay, I'll try it."

With that Kate left the basement to get dressed. She still had to decide what she should tell her family. It didn't seem like she would go back soon.

Kate came downstairs she was still wearing Stefan's t-shirt but she had put on a pair of blue jeans and she wore a pair of flat boots. She wasn't going to wear heels if Stefan wanted to take her in the forest to teach her to hunt animals.

"How did you get my clothes? You didn't tell Elena about me?" She asked as she approached Stefan.

"I sneaked in and took them out of you closet," He explained.

Kate nodded in understanding as she suddenly realized something, "How can I walk in the sun? I don't have fancy rings like you and Damon."

Stefan thought about that for a while and asked, "Do you wear any jewellery?"

"My earrings and my bracelet."

Stefan took her wrist in his hands and studied the bracelet. It had a lapis lazuli stone. He cursed himself for not seeing this earlier. The question was now how had she gotten a jewellery that protected vampires from the sun.

"Your bracelet protects you from the sun," He lifted her wrist to show her the bracelet. The blue stone on her bracelet was the same like the one on Stefan's ring, "It's a lapis lazuli spelled by a witch. You are never allowed to take the bracelet off, Kate. Do you understand?"

Kate nodded, slightly distracted by Stefan's hand on her wrist. Being a vampire felt different. She had realized that in the shower, but now with Stefan it was worse. It felt like he was touching every nerve of her body.

"Stefan," Kate whispered, "I feel different. Everything is different. Is that normal?"

"Your emotions are heightened as a vampire. Everything you feel is heightened and so are your senses," Stefan explained to her in a whisper.

Neither one of them had realized how close they were standing to each other. Without thinking Kate put a hand on Stefan's chest and moved closer. Stefan was still holding her wrist. Her nose brushed over his jaw, taking in his scent. She loved the sensation she felt as their skins touched. Her hand moved lower. Both closed their eyes. Stefan's hand let go of her wrist only to be placed on her hip. In this moment Elena didn't exist for either one of them. Kate's free hand was put on his shoulder. She lifted her face, her nose brushing against his. She could feel his breath on her lips; she could already taste him. Every fiber of her body wanted nothing more than to kiss Stefan. But she should have known that she wouldn't be so lucky. Her phone rang, breaking them both out of their moment. Stefan let his hand drop and stepped away.

"You should answer it. It could be your aunt or…Elena," At the mention of Elena both realized what they had been about to do. Kate went upstairs. Her phone was still with her clothes.

Upstairs in Stefan's room she picked up her phone, it was Jenna.

"Kate, where are you?" Her aunt was angry. Because of her heighten hearing she could hear her sister in the background listening to the conversation.

"I'm with a friend," That wasn't even a lie. Stefan was her friend but she couldn't tell them where she was.

"You have to come home, Kate. An animal killed Dr Grant and you were supposed to be there. Do you have any idea how worried I was when Sheriff Forbes came today and told me what happened? Come home," Jenna begged.

Kate breathed in and tried to sort her thoughts. She had no idea what she should tell her aunt. "I never went to Dr Grant today," Kate lied, "And I won't come home. It changed so much in the last time and I just need time to clean my head. I need to be alone for a while. I'm sorry, Jenna." She ended the phone call before Jenna could say anything else.

Frustrated, she threw her phone against a wall but she didn't hear it shattering. The reason for that was Stefan. He had caught the phone before it even touched the wall.

Kate ran a hand through her hair and sat down on the bed, "My life is so fucked up. First I am the girl without memories and now I am a vampire. To make it all worse I still can't remember anything. Except you count the fact that your brother compelled me to forget our first meeting. Ugh, I hate it."

Stefan sat down next to her, "How about we go hunting? It might distract you a bit."

* * *

**Don't forget, darlings, reviews inspire me and make me happy.**

**xoxo Lynn**


	6. You're Undead To Me

**Yeah, a new chapter. I hope you'll all like it.  
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**To the reviews.**

**Tvdlover87654: **I like it that you loved it that Damon saved Kate. I was a bit afraid that people would hate that idea. Yeah, Kate will have a hard time dealing with being a vampire.**  
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**Guest: **First, thank you so much. Second, I have an idea what will happen with Klaus, but at the moment I'll first deal with what happened in season one. But I promise he will come, even if it is later in the story.**  
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**winxgirl1997: **Thanks for reviewing and here is a new chapter.**  
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** .Sun: **Oh, to find out about Damon's reaction you have to read this chapter. BTW thanks for reviewing.**  
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**I once again say thank you very much to all of you for reviewing and favouring this story. I love you guys.  
**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**You're Undead To Me**

The hunting was a disaster. First, Kate had refused to kill an innocent, harmless animal. After a lot of convincing from Stefan she did it anyway and even had fun chasing the animal through the forest. But it was still a disaster. Kate broke down crying after she had killed the animal, till she realized that animal blood tasted disgusting. She didn't manage to keep it down and started to cry again. All the time Stefan was with her to comfort her. He was very patient with the overemotional vampire. Kate found her constant mood swings annoying. They tried the animal blood again the next day, but once again Kate threw the blood up. Zach had the idea that Kate could try to drink human blood for now. He got the idea as he found some blood bags from Damon in the fridge. Stefan was against it, but Kate could convince him by arguing that it was better then letting her starve.

The following days Stefan helped Kate with her control and the pair grew closer. Kate completely ignored her feelings for Stefan for the sake of their friendship. It was because of that friendship that Kate sat in the living room, playing with the hem of her purple dress, looking at her school bag. After four days away from everyone Stefan wanted to go back to school. Although he said that she didn't have to go, Kate wanted to. In the last days everyone had tried to contact her, but she had ignored them. It was time for her to face her friends and her family.

Stefan entered the living room with his bag slung around his shoulder. As he saw Kate sitting on the couch, unsure what to do, he asked, "Are you sure that you want to go back to school, today? I don't mind it if you want to stay here for a few more days."

"No, I want to go. It is just… I am afraid to lose control," Kate explained.

It was her biggest fear. What would she do if she lost it or forgot her strength and hurt someone? She couldn't just compel them as easy as that would be.

"Hey," He walked up to her, took her hand and made her stand up, "You won't. I promise you that I'll keep an eye on you."

Kate scoffed and took her hand out of his, "You can't be there all the time. What happens if I am in class and then someone cuts his finger on a piece of paper?"

"Kate," He grabbed her by the shoulders carefully, "I know that you are strong enough to stay in control. You just have to believe in yourself."

"Easier said than done," Kate huffed. She put her arms around Stefan's waist and lent her fore head against his chest, hugging him.

"I promise you that you won't harm anyone today," Stefan whispered in her hair.

"You can't be with me all the time. I'll be alone at school at one point," Kate contradicted.

"Then I won't leave you side, Kate," Stefan promised her.

Kate laughed and lifted her head, "You're a great friend, Stefan. I wouldn't have made it through this without you. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now lets go to school," Stefan said smiling.

"Okay," Kate agreed and grabbed her bag, "You know that it is impossible for you to stay next to me all the time. I mean just imagine you and Elena are finally going to have sex. With my new vampire hearing I have to leave town so that I don't hear the two of you."

"Kate!"

"What? It is true. You and Elena didn't have sex yet."

Stefan could only shake his head at this behaviour. It was typical for Kate. He had found that one out in the last days. Kate made jokes to forget and ignore a problem. Her humour was one of the reasons Zach liked her so much. With Kate you always found a reason to laugh.

Kate teased Stefan all the way to school. Well, for Kate it was teasing for Stefan it was annoying. As the pair walked into school all eyes were on them and Kate's teasing mood was gone. The young vampire might be able to control her bloodlust on occasion, but her temper was a big problem. A group of girls started to whisper and Kate heard every word.

"Don't you have other problems? Fuck off," The brunette snapped at the girls.

"Kate," Stefan said warningly.

The girls glared at Kate and left, once again whispering. Kate was fuming. How dare them to accuse Stefan of cheating on Elena with her? Stefan would never to something like that. Okay, there had been some moments between them where they would have betrayed Elena if they wouldn't have been interrupted. But he would never do it on purpose.

"Kate?" Stefan put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine. I won't go and rip out their throats," Kate stopped as she realized what she said, "Opps. I shouldn't have said that. Why did I even say that?"

"How about we go inside?" Stefan offered.

Shockingly, he was getting used to this. Kate always said what she thought as a human now as a vampire it wasn't different. She randomly said that she is going to kill someone mostly it was Damon.

They walked to Kate's locker. Kate was back to teasing Stefan. While walking to her locker she realized that if she didn't breath too much it was easier to stay in control. Teasing Stefan also distracted her. As they arrived at her locker, Stefan lent next to it smiling while Kate took out her books.

"I think I found the trick in keeping control. It is called not breathing, although I have to breath if I want to talk," Kate told Stefan.

"Your problem isn't your control, Kate. It is your temper," Stefan said.

"My temper? I am in complete control of my temper, Mr Salvatore," Kate joked.

Stefan shook his head, "Really? If memory serves me right, you tried to kill my brother, Miss Gilbert."

Kate laughed, "OMG. Stefan is joking and laughing. Now the world is truly going to end."

"Why is it such a shock if I have fun?" Stefan asked Kate.

"Easy. You are the brooding vampire, the loner, and the guy with a dark secret. It is what everyone sees, what you let everyone see. You don't seem like the guy to make jokes or anything," Kate explained. "But the moment someone knows you better they know that there is more to you than only the brooding. You do that a lot, like right now."

Kate pointed at his face, which like so often was in a brooding expression. The brunette let out another round of laughter.

"I am not brooding all the time," Stefan defended himself.

"I bet you were the inspiration for Rodin's 'The Thinker'," Stefan glared at her, "What? It represents a man battling with a powerful internal struggle and what is a bigger internal struggle than keeping yourself from sucking everyone's blood out?"

"You're impossible, Kate."

"Unbelievable is more correct."

Stefan shook his head while Kate only laughed. It felt good having fun with Stefan. It made her forget about Dr Grant. She did feel guilty not only because she killed him, but also because of Camilla. Kate might not like the librarian, but no one deserved to have their family taken away like this.

Kate could hear Caroline telling a pair of girls what they had to do for 'The Sexy Suds Car Wash'. She let out a curse she had forgotten all about it.

"Damn it. I forgot all about The Sexy Suds Car Wash tomorrow. I promised Caroline to help," Kate said.

"The Sexy Suds Car Wash?" Stefan asked confused.

"Students washing cars while showing a lot of skin. It's a fundraiser and I am supposed to help. Caroline even bought me a bikini," Kate groaned and realised something, "What the hell am I going to tell Caroline? I can't really tell her what really happened and if I don't tell her anything she is going to think it is a boy. Then she is going to hear about the nasty rumour that these girls are spreading. She will ask me if it is you and if I say no. She is not going to believe me. She will annoy me till I tell her. I can't talk with her."

"Kate, calm down. Nothing like this is going to happen. You just need a good excuse," Stefan said.

"That is so not helping," Kate grumbled.

"You have to talk with her one day," Stefan reasoned. Kate knew that he was right, but she didn't felt like doing it right now.

"I am going to talk with Caroline if you talk with Elena," Kate said, not expecting Stefan to do it. He too had avoided Elena's calls.

"Okay, fine," He said and walked off. Kate saw that it was towards Elena and Bonnie.

"Damn you, Salvatore," Kate cursed.

Stefan greeted Elena and Bonnie. Bonnie left the couple alone to talk. Kate stayed by her locker, hiding behind the door of it, while listening to Elena and Stefan's conversation. She knew that she should do that, but she could always later on blame her new heightened senses. Stefan apologized to Elena for not calling, who said that he doesn't have to worry. He told her that he had to deal with Damon. From the tone in her twin's voice, Kate knew that Elena wasn't happy. She was angry that Stefan hadn't spoken to her in for four days. To soothe Elena, he promised her that he would explain everything to her when they meet at the Grill. As Elena agreed, Caroline approached them, asking where Damon was. Kate shook her head. Why did Caroline still know where Damon was after everything he had done to her.

As the conversation was over, Kate closed her locker, wanting to go to class. That had been a fault. Elena saw her.

"Katherine Gilbert!" Elena screamed out. Some people turned around. Kate cursed and disappeared in the next best room. It was the restrooms. She also didn't get rid of her twin who had followed her inside. Kate turned around and smiled innocently at Elena.

"Hey 'Lena," She greeted her sister, trying not to show that she wanted nothing more than run out of this room. How could she have forgotten Elena? She should have known that she was going to feel her twin's wrath.

"You have been gone for four days, Kate. Four days," Elena scolded screaming, "Dr Grant was killed by an animal while you were supposed to be with him. As Sheriff Forbes came to us, we thought that you were dead too. Now your back four days later with Stefan. What is going on?"

"Elena, I swear Stefan and I are friends. Nothing more," Kate explained.

"You know that isn't the most important thing. More important is that you were gone and didn't tell where you run off to. The last time you ran off you came back without memories. I was so scared that this time you would die. What were you thinking, Kate?" Elena was close to tears.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think…" Elena interrupted her.

"That is exactly the point. You don't think. I was so worried about you. You have no idea what Jenna and I went through."

Kate sighed, "It was all just too much. Tanner dying, how Damon treat Caroline, Jeremy and my memory loss. I just needed to be alone, so that I could think and gather myself."

"Why didn't come to me? I would have listened," Elena said, calmer now.

"I just needed time for myself," Kate smiled at her sister, "Next time I feel like running off I am going to take you with me. We will go to Las Vegas, get drunk, lose a lot of money and get married to men we don't know."

Elena smiled back, "It's a deal. But you do have to talk with Jenna too. You know that, right?"

"She can join us when we go to Las Vegas."

Laughing, the twins left the restrooms and went to class together. Kate could feel Stefan's presence. That sneaky bastard had listen in on her conversation, although she found it funny that he was intend to keep the promise he gave her.

The rest of the morning nothing spectacular happened. Avoiding her best friend was easier than she thought. It seemed that Caroline was too busy with organizing the car wash to question Kate about her whereabouts. Bonnie wasn't that angry with Kate. She gave the girl a glare, scolded her for a bit and then it was over for her too. At lunch Kate sat on the bleachers, reading a book. It was then that Caroline approached her.

"You and Stefan?" Caroline asked. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her eyebrow lifted and a huge grin on her face.

"No," Kate said.

"Don't lie. How is he in the sack?" Caroline asked.

"I'm gone for four days and you want to know how Stefan is in the sack?"

"So, you did have sex with him," Caroline sat down, grinning at her best friend.

"I didn't have sex with him."

"But you were with Stefan the last four days."

"No," Kate denied it. Caroline's grin grew. "Fine, yes. I was at Stefan's. He let me stay with him while I was trying to deal with the fact that I had a lot of emotional damage. It wasn't pretty."

"Okay, don't tell me then."

"Don't tell Elena, please?" Kate begged.

"Why would I tell Elena that you and Stefan were together the last four days? I am your best friend not hers," Caroline said.

"Thank you," Kate hugged her best friend, "Is everything alright with you? I left and you were all alone dealing with the whole Damon thing. You know that I am sorry."

"I don't want to talk about him."

"Okay. I will look so good in my new bikini tomorrow," Kate said distracting Caroline. Apparently that had been the right move. Caroline started to tell her all about the car wash. It felt good talking with Caroline. It was like whatever Damon had done to her so that she wouldn't talk with Kate didn't exist anymore.

* * *

The brunette knew that she had to face her aunt. She couldn't let Stefan sneak in her room to steal clothes for her. An invitation to the Gilbert house was needed. Taking a deep breath, Kate used the doorbell. Jenna opened the door. Shock crossed her face as she saw Kate. The shock was replaced with anger.

"Come in, now. We are going to have a serious talk," Jenna said in a controlled voice and disappeared in the house. Kate followed her. She had gotten her invitation, now she would feel Jenna's wrath.

Kate had just set a foot in the kitchen as Jenna started to scream at the young vampire, "Where were you, Kate? What where you thinking? Did you know what we all went through? We thought that you were dead as Sheriff Forbes came here. You could have at least called. Every time Elena or I tried to call you, you ignored it. We were afraid that something had happened to you. Do you…"

"Stop it," Kate had sworn herself not to get angry, but she couldn't stand the fact that she was once again screamed at for the same reason, "I get it. Elena already gave me a lecture. I don't need one from you too. I know that I should have called or at least told you were I was going. I am sorry. I just needed a bit of time alone, so I could clear my head. Next time I decide to run off I'll tell you."

"Fine, but the next time you'll get grounded," Jenna said. She was still angry, but she knew that scolding Kate wouldn't do anything. The girl was stubborn.

"You really would do that?" Kate asked in a mocking manner.

"Yes," Jenna said calmer now.

"Okay, then," Kate smiled, "What happened while I was gone?"

Jenna eyes her niece suspiciously, "Not much."

"Really? Must have been so boring without me around," Kate smirked.

"Fine," Jenna scoffed, "I have a date tonight with Logan."

"The cute news guy?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, the guy with the cheating issues," Jenna confirmed, "I am going to show up and torture him."

Kate laughed, "Sounds like fun."

Kate and Jenna started to talk about ways to torture Logan. The pair laughed and Kate's disappearance was forgotten. Suddenly Kate's phone rang it was Stefan. She apologized to Jenna and left the house to answer it.

"Hey, Stefan. How can I be of service?" Kate asked.

"I need your help," He said.

"Yeah, I think we established that already. Why do you need my help?"

"It's because of Elena. I…" Kate interrupted him.

"Let me guess, you came too late and Elena left angry?"

"Yeah," Stefan said subdued.

Kate sighed, "My idea is that you try to get in her good graces again. The easiest way is to tell her about yourself."

"I can't tell her that I am a vampire, Kate."

"I also wasn't talking about that. Tell her about Stefan. There is more to you than being a vampire. Tell her what your favourite book or movie is. Tell her about completely normal human things," Kate explained.

"Did you know that Jenna has a date tonight? Only the Gilbert kids are home and Elena loves chicken Parmesan," Kate said sneaky.

"What?" She had confused Stefan.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Cook something for her and tell her about yourself. Oh, and bring me some sweets, a lot of them. I am going to hide at your place, keeping an eye on Damon. Ask Jeremy to help you. The idiot doesn't want talk with me."

"Kate, I can't leave you alone with Damon," Stefan said concerned.

"He is locked up in a cell. What can he do to me?"

"I am more concerned what you could do to him."

Kate scoffed, "I am not going to harm Damon. I promise."

"Fine, but don't go downstairs."

"Yeah. I'll leave him alone."

Kate hung up as Elena walked up to the house. She could literally feel her sister's bad mood. Elena entered the house not even looking at her twin. Kate wanted to follow her inside, but suddenly she heard noises from her brother's room. It sounded like Jeremy was having sex with a girl. Sadly, that girl was Vicki. Kate couldn't stand to stay inside the house or near it if she had to listen to them.

* * *

Kate had decided to flee to the boarding house a bit earlier. Zach wasn't there and she had no idea where he was. The brunette was sitting in the huge living room of the boarding house, reading 'The Great Gatsby'. She had stolen it from Stefan. He wouldn't mind it as long as she brought it back. While she was reading Kate heard something. It was a whisper, coming from downstairs. She put her book away, deciding to go downstairs. She knew that she had promised not to go downstairs, but the whisper was a name. It was Caroline's name.

"Caroline," Damon whispered weakly.

Kate moved to the cell, looking through the small window of the door. She remembered how she had stood here a few days ago, wanting nothing more than to kill Damon for compelling her. But now she pitied him a bit, seeing him this weak.

"Why are you calling for Caroline? She can't hear you. At least not from here," Kate said, getting Damon's attention.

"Look who decided to join the party," Damon coughed.

"Really now, what did you do? Can she hear you?" Kate hated the fact that she was curious about what Damon had been doing.

"Why do you want to know that?" Damon tried to stand up and stumbled towards the door. Kate scoffed and shook her head. Although he could barely stand on his own feet, he still wanted to invade her personal space.

As Damon stood in front of her, his face as close as possible to hers, he took in her scent. Something was different about it. He still could smell her usual lemony ginger scent, but to his surprise he smelled something on Kate he never thought he would smell on her. He smelled blood.

"Why do you smell like blood?" He asked.

Kate was caught of guard, "You don't know?"

She had thought that Damon would realize that Kate was a vampire. Stefan and Kate had thought about way Kate could have gotten turned. One of Stefan theories had been that Damon somehow had given her his blood.

"So, you never gave me your blood?" Kate asked.

"No, why would I do…" Damon stopped, realizing something, "You're a vampire. How?"

"That's something everyone wants to know. I have no idea how I got vampire blood in my system or how I died," Kate explained.

"You have no idea? No one gave you something where blood could be in or were you unconscious for a second? Nothing, really?" Damon grabbed the bars to steady himself.

Kate thought about what Damon had said. She thought back to the evening of the Founders Ball. Suddenly she remembered how Camilla had given her a drink; she could have easily put vampire blood in it. As Kate had woken up in the restroom Camilla had been with her. Maybe she had killed her. There was another thing that came into her mind. Dr Grant's action before she killed him, it was like he wanted to feed her his blood. But why would they do that?

"Now a lot of things make sense and I so don't regret anymore killing that guy," Kate scoffed.

"You killed someone?" Damon asked disbelieving, "The same girl who was afraid of me after she saw me killing her history teacher?"

"Well, I am also the same girl you made forget how we met," Kate whispered, putting her hands over Damon's. The tone in her voice was seductive. It was a tone Damon knew. In this moment Kate sounded so much like Katherine it shocked Damon.

"Don't tell me Damon Salvatore is speechless. How did I manage to do that?" Kate said mockingly as Damon didn't answer her, "And here I was thinking about letting you out. Seems like I won't be doing that now."

A smirk was on her face as she saw Damon's puzzled expression. Somehow she loved this feeling, it made her feel strong and powerful. It was like a drug rushing through her veins. Still, smirking Kate took a step backwards and let go of Damon's hands.

"See you around, Damon," She said before she disappeared upstairs again.

Damon was left alone in his cell, confused how much Kate just acted like Katherine. He had no idea what he should think about that.

* * *

Kate just finished washing a car, as she saw Stefan approaching her. She had a very bad feeling. He didn't look very happy.

"Kate, we have to talk," Stefan announced.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Kate asked dramatically.

Stefan gave her a glare, "You went downstairs to see Damon. You promised me that you wouldn't do that."

Kate let out a sigh, "Yeah, I know. But he was whispering something and I wanted to know what it was. I swear I wasn't going to harm him or let him out."

"Okay, fine. Just don't do this again."

"It's a promise," Kate said smiling, "Where is my sister?"

"She went to get some towels," Stefan told her.

As Stefan saw her sneaky smirk, he got suspicious, "Why are smirking, Kate?"

"I just had a very funny thought," Kate said smirking.

Before Stefan could do anything, Kate grabbed a bucket full of water and threw the water at him. Stefan was completely drenched with shock on his face and Kate only laughed.

"You're so gonna regret that," Stefan said and grabbed a wet towel and threw it at Kate.

She caught it easily and said mocking, "Is that all you got Salvatore?"

"Just wait," Stefan took another bucket of water.

"Oh come on, Stefan. You don't want to do that," Kate said and ran around the car, trying to escape Stefan. But it didn't help. Stefan caught her and emptied the bucket over her head.

Angry, Kate started to throw wet towels and sponges at Stefan. The pair was having fun by throwing stuff at each other. As Stefan once again tried to get her completely drenched, Kate ran away again. He slung his arm around her waist stopping her from running. They were laughing together, not caring that there were people watching them. One of these people was Elena.

She had very mixed feelings. At one side she was happy that Kate and Stefan seemed to get along this well. Kate didn't have many friends. So, Elena was happy that she and Stefan were friends. But on the other side Elena was jealous. Kate and Stefan seemed very close, like they understood each other on a level Elena couldn't. The way Kate made Stefan laugh; made Elena feel jealous and she hated that.

* * *

"Hey, Tiki. Have you seen Caroline?" Kate asked the girl, while she was drying her hair with a towel.

"Don't know. She bailed," The girl answered.

"Okay. Thank you," Kate said.

Kate went into the school, to grab her things from her locker. She needed her phone to call Caroline. At her locker Kate used her heightened senses to check if anyone was around, before she changed. She put her bikini and shorts in her bag and put her hair in a ponytail. As she wanted to call Caroline, she suddenly caught the blonde's scent. Curious Kate followed it.

To Kate's surprise, she knew exactly where Caroline seemed to have went, the boarding house. Why would she go there?

Kate could already see the boarding house, as suddenly the door opened and Caroline ran out.

"Caroline?" But the blonde ignored her friend and kept running. Kate knew that she should have followed Caroline, but somehow she first wanted to know what had made Caroline run out of the boarding house.

Cautious, Kate entered the boarding house. Suddenly something grabbed her hand and pulled her deeper inside the house. She found herself pressed against a wall by no one else than Damon.

"Damon?" Kate was confused on how he had gotten out of his cell.

His hands were holding her wrist over her head and his body was pressed against hers, not leaving a bit of space between them. His nose brushed over her collarbone. Kate did her best not to show the effect he had on her body. He suddenly ripped off her bracelet and disappeared.

"Damon! Give it back," Kate shouted as she realized that now she wasn't protected from the sun anymore. As she wanted to search for Damon, he appeared again.

"What did you do with my bracelet, Damon?" Kate asked angry.

"I hid it," Damon said, his voice was still weak.

Kate growled and against her better judgement attacked him. They crashed to the floor. Damon flipped them around and held Kate down by grabbing her around the throat.

"Stefan took my ring, meaning I am locked up inside till I can get it back," Damon's lips brushed over her ear as he spoke, "So, you Kate are going to keep me company."

He let go of her throat and rolled off her. Kate rubbed her throat, refusing to look at the vampire lying next to her on the floor.

"Have you eaten something yet?" Kate asked, trying to make conversation. She had to do something if she was forced to stay in the boarding house with him till it was dark.

"Nope," Damon answered. He turned his head so that he could see her.

"I think I drank the last blood bag," Kate said, ignoring Damon watching her.

"Stefan lets you drink human blood?" Damon asked laughing. The laughing fast turned into a cough.

Kate turned her head to look at him. She cursed herself that she wanted to know if Damon was all right. He had treated Caroline badly, compelled her once and stolen her bracelet. She wasn't supposed to care about his well-being.

"Yeah, I can't keep down the animal blood," Kate answered and once again looked away.

Kate was startled as Damon suddenly took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. Her eyes once again went to his face, meeting his ice blue eyes. She tried to ignore the warmth that spread through her as his lips touched the skin of her hand. It was strange how kind this gesture was. It didn't seem like Damon.

"If you want I could teach you how to hunt properly," He whispered against her hand.

"I don't want to kill," Kate whispered back.

"Never said you had to. I could teach you how to feed without losing control," Damon's free hand brushed a streak of her hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her ponytail. Kate felt strange there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling she wasn't supposed to feel around Damon.

"I'll think about it," Kate said.

They stayed on the floor till the sun started to set. Damon stood up, pulling Kate up with him. He was still weak and had problems standing on his feet alone. Kate decided to help him. He had an arm slung around her shoulder, while Kate put arm around his waist. He led them inside the forest. Kate had no idea where to. As they reached the cemetery and Kate could hear Vicki and her friends. Suddenly she knew what Damon was planning to do.

"No," She said, "I'll not help you kill a bunch of drunken teenagers."

She let go of him. Damon lent back against a tree as he lost the halt Kate had given him.

"Oh, don't be dramatic. I'll kill them. You don't have to do anything," He said.

"Fine, then you don't need my help. Goodbye Damon," Kate turned around to leave.

"What about your bracelet?" He asked, making Kate turned back.

"What about it?"

"Don't you want it back?" He asked, forcing a smirk on his face.

Kate closed her eyes and sighed, "Fine, but I'll stay here. When you're finished come back here."

Damon smirked and stumbled towards the truck, turning off the music. Vicki went to the car to start the music again, finding Damon leaning coughing against the truck. He loured her closer and finally attacked her. Kate turned around she couldn't look at Damon killing someone. But the moment she could smell Vicki's blood something clicked inside her. She could hear the heart beats of the other three, smell their blood. Kate was fighting against herself to keep control. She could hear Damon letting Vicki's body drop on the floor. With newfound strength he attacked another one of the teenagers. The moment she smelled the new blood Kate couldn't fight anymore, a part of her didn't wanted to fight anymore.

Following her instincts she speeded towards the female and sank her teeth in her throat. Moaning as the warm blood touched her tongue. She had a hand over the girl's mouth, keeping her from screaming. Without a drop of blood left in her body, the girl fell dead to the ground.

"I thought you didn't want to help me kill them," Damon spoke up behind her.

Kate turned around, blood dripping down her chin.

* * *

**That was it for chapter 6. I hope you liked it.**

**BTW You guys can give me some ideas what you want to happen in the story. I know what I want to do with the story, but I am always open for new ideas.  
**

**xoxo Lynn  
**


	7. Lost Girls

**I apologize that it took so long to finish this chapter, but I was busy with school and Christmas shopping. I hope that the fact that this is a very long chapter will make it up to you.  
**

**And because I am very busy today. I can't answer to you reviews, but I'll do it next time.  
**

**Now, have fun reading.  
**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**Lost Girls**

The blood was dripping down Kate's chin. She swallowed, slowly realizing what she had done. Desperately the brunette tried to wipe away the blood, covering her finger with the red liquid. Tears were running down her face as the panic rose in her. She couldn't believe that she had killed again and to make it worse she didn't felt as guilty as she did after she killed Dr Grant.

Damon compelled the last teenager to stay quiet and not to run away. He went to Kate and turned her around by her shoulders so that he could see her face. Before he could make her look at him, Kate tried to free herself from his grasp.

"Don't look at me," cried she and moved away from Damon.

Damon grabbed her wrist, stopping her and said to her, "I don't care that your face is covered with blood. I only want to help you."

Kate lifted her head and looked into Damon's eyes, trying to see if he was lying. If Kate wasn't mistaken she actually saw something she had often seen in Stefan's eyes, concern. Could it really be that Damon cared about her?

Damon cupped her cheeks with his hands, his fingers wiping away her tears. Kate closed her eyes, relishing his caresses. She wasn't used to this. Never had she thought that Damon could be so kind. Although she was used to Stefan's kind touches, something about Damon touching her this way made her head spin.

Kate opened her eyes again as she felt him move away from her. Damon bent down to the dead girl, ripped off a piece of her clothes and stood once again in front of Kate. Kate smiled as she saw that he once again was invading her personal space. Damon took her hands in his, wiping the blood away. After he had cleaned her hands, he moved to her face next. Slowly, he wiped the blood away from Kate's mouth. His thumb brushed over her lips, making Kate moan. He also cleaned the blood that had run down her throat to her cleavage. To both their surprise, Kate let him. Kate didn't understand what was going on.

"Are you going to accept my offer?" asked Damon suddenly. The young vampire remembered that Damon had offered her to teach her control.

"Maybe I should," whispered Kate. Damon stopped cleaning her and threw the cloth away.

"Well, then lets start," He took her hand in his, pulling her to the last teenager. Kate knew what he wanted to do.

"Damon, I can't kill someone else," protested Kate. Damon only rolled his eyes. He turned her around pressing her back against his chest. He slung an arm around her stomach, holding her to him. He brushed her hair from her left shoulder and lent in. His lips were brushing against her ear.

"I'll kill him, but first you will feed off him without killing him," explained he whispering.

"I can't, Damon."

"Forget what Stefan told you. You are allowed to embrace the vampire inside of you, have fun Kate. Relish in it. Let go," Damon started to place small kisses over her exposed shoulder.

Kate tried to ignore the feelings that run through her body every time Damon's lips touched her skin and focused on the teenager who was crying in fear.

She pushed Damon's arm from her stomach and moved towards the boy, missing the feeling of Damon. Power started to rush through her body as she saw how afraid the boy was. Because of Damon's compulsion he couldn't move. She could smell the fear in his blood. A smirk came on her face. She moved behind the boy. One of her fingers brushed down his carotid artery, feeling the blood pumping under the skin. She tilted his head and bit down. Her eyes found Damon's, who was watching her with lust in his eyes. Kate moaned at the intensity in Damon's ice blue eyes. As she felt the boy getting weaker she stopped drinking from him and pushed him towards Damon. He easily caught the boy and sank his teeth in the same spot Kate had. Like Kate earlier, Damon didn't close his eyes.

Kate bit down on her lower lip. She had never thought that feeding off a human could be that arousing. Suddenly the boy's death didn't seem that dark and gloomy. The boy's dead body fell to the ground.

"They are all dead. What are we going to do now?" asked Kate. She played with one of her curls, something she hadn't done in a while. Damon wiped off his mouth on the sleeve of the death boy and grabbed the bottle of alcohol.

"Covering our tracts, but first I need a phone," explained Damon and searched through the teenagers' pocket for a phone.

"I have a phone," informed Kate him, "You can use it if you want."

Kate took out her phone and held it out for Damon to take. As he wanted to grab it Kate pulled her hand away.

"What happened with 'I can use it if I want'?" asked Damon.

Kate giggled and answered, "Oh, you can use it. But I want to know who you want to call."

"Stefan," said Damon and tried to take the phone. Kate on the other hand was having too much fun to let Damon have her phone. With vampire speed she run off. Damon growled and followed her.

Kate stopped, trying to hear where Damon was. She couldn't hear him, but suddenly she heard something behind her. She turned around, but it was to late. The following second she was restrained against a tree by her wrists. In the whole process her phone had fallen to the ground and now lay forgotten where Kate just had stood a second ago.

Kate looked up into Damon's blue eyes. They were standing so close that their noses were brushing against each other and their breaths were mingling. An intense heat spread through her. Damon moved closer, their lips barely touching. Kate could still smell the fresh blood on him and instead of feeling disgust she rather felt intrigued.

"Damon," His name fell from her lips barely a whisper.

Both were clouded with the scent and the feeling of the other. Locked inside their own world. Then suddenly Kate's phone rang, breaking the spell. Kate pushed Damon away as she realized what she had been about to do. If the phone hadn't rung they would have kissed.

Kate went to pick up the phone from the ground. Luckily it wasn't damaged. She looked at the screen and saw that it was Stefan.

"It's Stefan," announced Kate. Everything suddenly came back. The things she had done just recently.

"Ignore him," growled Damon.

"I can't. He'll get suspicious and think that I killed someone," reasoned Kate.

"Newsflash Kate. You did just killed again and then you fed of a human and liked it," snapped Damon. He grabbed her phone and went back to the dead teenagers. Kate didn't understand what had happened just now. She followed Damon wordlessly and sat down on the stairs in front of the crypt.

Damon took one of the teenagers by the legs and pulled him to the fire. Then he took out Kate's phone and rang Stefan.

"Kate. Why didn't you answer your phone?" Kate heard Stefan say.

"I want my ring," said Damon after he had taken a big gulp out of the bottle.

"Where is she, Damon?" asked Stefan, the concern clear in his voice.

"She is with me without her bracelet I might add. Where is my ring?"

"I don't have it. Let me speak to her," demanded Stefan.

"Nope, she is busy helping me," answered Damon.

Kate looked at him in disbelieve, "In what way am I helping you?"

"Take care of the bodies," commanded Damon and gave her the alcohol bottle. Kate started to pour alcohol over the dead bodies.

"What have you done?" asked Stefan.

Damon took a branch from the fire and set the dead teenagers on fire, while he said to Stefan, "No, what have you done? You locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done whoever I've sucked dry, is on you."

"You are getting careless. How many animal attacks is this town going to believe? And you had to pull Kate in to it," Kate could hear that Stefan was angry. He had no idea that one of the teenagers had been her victim.

"I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where's my ring?"

"I gave it to Zach to hide. Probably shouldn't have killed him," said Stefan, making Damon's pacing stop.

"You killed Zach," exclaimed Kate.

Damon shushed her and continued to speak with Stefan, "You almost got me, Where is it?"

"I'll get it back, but I need time," It sounded like Stefan was giving his brother what he wanted.

"What, did you FedEx it to Rome? Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan or Kate won't get her bracelet back and I'll make sure that she is going to a walk in the morning," threatened Damon.

"I already want you dead. Don't give me another reason to make it happen," Kate had to admit that angry Stefan sounded kind of hot.

"Let me speak to him, please. Maybe then you'll get your ring back faster. Threatening my life won't bring you far," said Kate.

Damon looked the girl in the eyes, seeing the hurt inside of them. She was hurt because he had threatened her life, after he had offered her his help. Damon gave her the phone.

"Hey, Stefan," greeted Kate her friend.

"Kate, are you alright? Did he hurt you?" asked Stefan concerned.

"I'm fine, but I think you have to give him his ring back," advised Kate him.

"Yeah, I know, but there is something else. Elena knows."

Kate didn't know what she should answer to that and only asked, "Was she scared?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell her everything. I can…" She couldn't finish her sentence as Damon had taken the phone away from her, "Give it back, Damon."

"I want my ring back. Don't give me a reason to rip you apart," threatened Damon. Kate was starting to ask herself if this was the way the brothers always talked with each other. If it is they truly had issues.

"Yeah? Is that before or after you get your ring back?" said Stefan sarcastically.

"Just get it," Damon hung up the phone.

He turned around to face Kate. The young vampire had her arms crossed in front of her chest. The anger was streaming of off her.

"You are the most despicable, lying…" Kate's rant was stopped by Damon's hand over her mouth.

"I won't help you if you keep on being rude," said Damon smirking.

Kate pushed his hand away and snapped, "If you help means that you'll threaten my life every five seconds, then I don't want it."

Kate wanted to walk away as she felt a hand on her wrist. She was turned around and held against Damon's chest. His face was close to hers and Kate had to fight the urge to lean in closer.

"Would it make it better if I said that I only said it to piss Stefan off?" asked Damon without any sarcasm in his voice. He locked his eyes with Kate's, trying to see if she believed him.

Kate closed her eyes, avoiding his very distracting eyes. She didn't understand Damon. Once second he wanted to help her, the next he threatened her. Then there were these moments between them, in which she seemed to completely forget herself. There was only Damon and his touch. She didn't wanted to feel this way; she wasn't supposed to feel this way. He was Damon, the bad guy. He had used her best friend as a blood bag. She couldn't feel attracted to him. It was wrong on so many levels, but there was this small selfish part of her that said to forget all about others and just do it.

The young vampire was confused. She knew that she had feelings for Stefan, but she didn't have any for Damon. She told herself she only fell attracted to him, because she was horny as hell and Damon was an attractive male being. It was normal to feel attracted to him.

"Fine, just don't do it again," sighed Kate, giving in.

A smirk appeared on Damon's face. He kissed her hand, he had been holding, before he let go of it.

"Now, lets take care of the last dead teenager," drawled Damon, walking towards Vicki.

Kate suddenly heard something, "Damon, stop."

"What is it now?" He turned back to her.

"I think I can hear a heartbeat," said Kate and listen closely. It came from Vicki and Kate's reaction was, "Urgh, she isn't dead. Why can't she just die? She would make a lot of people's life easier if she did."

Damon laughed, "Vampire you is so much more fun than human you."

"Shouldn't it make me horrible that I want her dead?" asked Kate, still watching Vicki.

"Depending on your definition of horrible," said Damon and kneed down as Vicki started to cough.

Kate stepped behind him and huffed, "Can we leave her here?"

"I have a much better idea," said Damon. Kate could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Urgh, I already don't like it."

"Oh believe. You are going to love it," Damon picked up Vicki and started to walk.

Rolling her eyes Kate followed him. She didn't want to have Vicki around her even if she was unconscious.

"Why couldn't we just leave her? I don't like her," complained Kate.

"What did she do to you?" asked Damon.

"Nothing. I just don't like her around my brother. Everything he is doing is do impress her. If he has to change who he is so that she can love him, then she never loved him in the first place. Meaning that he will always love her more than she loves him. I don't think Jeremy truly understands what he is doing," explained Kate.

Damon said nothing.

"But really now. Can't we just let her behind?" asked Kate.

"No," came Damon's answer.

Kate rolled her eyes growling.

* * *

The sun was starting to rise as they arrived at the boarding house. Damon put Vicki down on the couch. Suddenly Kate's phone rang. It was Elena.

Kate picked up her phone, "Hey, Elena. What is it?"

"Can you come home? I have to talk with you," said Elena.

"I can't Elena I am busy. Can we talk about it tonight?" asked Kate. She couldn't go out now. The sun was rising and she didn't felt like burning.

"Kate, please. I just need someone to talk to and I can't go to Bonnie or Caroline," begged Elena.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I just can't," said Kate sadly.

"Okay, then. I'll see you," Elena hung up.

"Great now my sister hates me," sighed Kate.

She turned back to Damon and Vicki. Damon had his hand in his pocket, looking thoughtfully at Kate. Then he rolled his eyes and said, "I don't believe I am doing this."

He took his hand out of his pocket and held her bracelet in between his fingers. Before Kate could say anything he took her wrist and put the bracelet back around it.

"You had it on you all the time. Why didn't you just gave it back to me, right away?" asked Kate.

"Not important, just go to your sister," said Damon and let go of her wrist.

Kate suddenly followed a thought that she just had. She hugged her arms around Damon's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Damon was surprised. He slung his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

Somehow the hug felt familiar, she could have sworn that she had felt it before. She brushed her nose down Damon's cheek to his neck, taking in his scent. It was intoxicating. His scent, his body against her own, made her feel something. Kate wasn't sure what it was. She moved her head so she could see his face. There was no smirk or arrogance in Damon's face. His right hand cupped her cheek, bringing her face closer. Her eyes closed as Damon laid his forehead on hers. Every fiber in her body wanted to kiss him, to forget that she shouldn't want Damon. She grabbed the hair in the back of his neck to bring his lips to hers. They brushed against each other, sending a spark through both of them.

A groan stopped Kate from going further, remembering that Vicki was lying bleeding on the couch.

"She is getting blood on the couch," whispered Kate, opening her eyes and stepping away from Damon. She didn't dare to look at Damon, afraid that she would forget herself again if she looked into his face.

"I'll get her a towel," said Kate and left Damon and Vicki alone.

Kate went upstairs to get a small towel and tried to clear her mind. She had just been about to kiss Damon, the same Damon who had used Caroline as a blood bag and killed Tanner. Kate knew that it was wrong wanting to be close to Damon, but somehow she wanted to be close to him. It was like every time they were together there was something in the back of her mind breaking through.

She found a small towel and went back downstairs. She walked to Vicki and put the towel over her still bleeding wound. A bit of blood dropped on Kate's finger. With fascination Kate watched the blood run down her finger. She didn't felt the usual hunger. No, she was fascinated by the fact that it was this red liquid that she craved more than anything.

"Where are you, Stefan? I'm trapped at the house. And I'm getting really bored and really impatient and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring," Kate heard Damon say.

She jumped up, wiped away the blood from her hand and turned around. She saw Damon avoiding the sun and pouring him a drink while he was talking on Stefan's mailbox. Damon hung up and saw Kate.

"Weren't you supposed to go to your sister?" asked Damon and took a sip from his drink.

"I…I wanted to know what you plan on doing with Vicki. Are you going to kill her or not? Her blood is starting to bother me," said Kate.

Damon smirked, "You can heal her if you want."

"Heal her? You mean feeding her my blood?" asked Kate. Damon nodded.

Kate turned around, looking at Vicki. She didn't like the girl, but Jeremy did. Debating with herself if she should feed Vicki her blood, Kate closed her eyes. She heard Damon stepping behind her. He took her wrist in his hands, making Kate open her eyes again.

"You only have to bite your wrist and feed the blood to her," whispered he against Kate's wrist.

"I already figured that one out, thank you," declared Kate and pulled her wrist from Damon.

She walked behind Vicki, bit in her wrist and feed the girl her blood.

"Why do I have the bad feeling that I am going to regret this?" asked Kate herself. Vicki grabbed her arm, wanting more blood.

"Okay, I think she had enough," said Damon and pulled Kate's wrist away from Vicki's mouth. The next thing he did was to lick off the leftover blood from the bite. Kate moaned at the feeling of Damon's tongue on her skin. Why was he doing this to her all the time? She pulled her hand away and faced Vicki who was now awake.

"What happened?" asked Vicki, rubbing her neck.

"Compel her," whispered Damon.

"Why?" asked Kate, not understanding what Damon wanted.

"Just for fun and so you learn how to use it," said Damon and went back to calling Stefan.

Kate rolled her eyes. She looked deep into Vicki's eyes and started to compel her, "You'll take a shower and won't ask stupid question after that. Do you understand?"

Vicki nodded and did as she was told. She disappeared upstairs to take a shower. Kate turned around, watching Damon cursing his brother. Kate couldn't fight the smirk coming on her face.

"Do you really believe that he is going to pick up if he knows it is you who is calling? I wouldn't," said Kate, arrogance lacing her tone. She walked to Damon, took his drink out of his hand and sat down on the nearby couch, watching Damon with a smirk on her face while she drank the alcohol.

"Is it just me or are you enjoying yourself?" asked Damon smirking. He put his hands on either side of her, leaning down.

"Maybe," Her smirk grew.

"You know there is something I think unfair," said Kate, her voice once again had a seductive tone, "You got to taste my blood. What about me?"

"A very tempting offer, but I don't think you are ready for that," told Damon her and pulled away.

Kate pouted, "What could be so worse in me drinking your blood?"

"Blood sharing is something very personal," explained Damon.

"Let me guess blood sharing equals…" Kate couldn't finish her sentence.

"Sex," Damon finished for her.

"So, blood sharing is in other words, vampire sex," suspected Kate, "Now, that is fascinating."

Damon took back his drink, while Kate bit her lower lip imagining the taste of Damon's blood. A part of her knew that she shouldn't think about it, she shouldn't even want to try this. So, why wasn't this thought leaving her mind? There were two sides inside her fighting for what they thought was right. One side knew that she shouldn't do what she wanted to do and the other said to screw that and do whatever she wanted. It was like her good side and her evil side were fighting each other. And at the moment it looked like her evil side was winning, because she wanted to taste Damon's blood. There was this thrill and it was so hard to fight it.

Making her decision, Kate stood up and walked towards Damon. He was watching Kate carefully as she moved closer. He didn't stop her, not even as she grabbed the hair in his neck, exposing his throat or as he felt her tongue licking over his carotid artery. The second her tongue touched his skin; he threw away his drink and put his hands on her hips, pulling her closer. He swore to himself that he was going to stop her if she was about to bite him.

Kate was relishing in the taste of Damon's skin, the feeling of his body against her own and the growls that escaped him every time her teeth touched his skin. She just loved the effect she was having on him. She could feel her face change, but before she could bite down, she was thrown across the room, crashing into the couch.

"Okay, I get it. I am not allowed to drink your blood," growled Kate and stood up again.

"Have fun, Kate, but don't drink my blood," mocked Kate and huffed.

Kate knew that she wasn't acting and thinking like herself. At least not like everyone was used to. Her transformation into a vampire changed something and she kind of liked it. She remembered Stefan telling her that all of her emotions were heightened. Could it be that some traits of her personality were stronger than before? Trying to drink Damon's blood, wanting to be close to him and… She wanted to be close to Damon. After everything he had done, something inside of her wanted to be close to him. That was the biggest change. As a human she had felt a bit of attraction towards him and it seemed that now as a vampire it was even stronger. The best example for that was that she stayed instead of going to Elena. She had her bracelet back. Nothing was holding her back, but she stayed. She was in love with Stefan, not Damon. So, why did she want to stay around Damon?

Kate shook her head, getting rid of these thoughts and pouted. She strutted back towards Damon, with her pout still on her face and said sulky, "You're being very mean."

The space between them got smaller. As Kate stood right in front of Damon, her hand touched his jawline and moved lower to his chest. Her hand stopped on his chest and she leant in, her lips barely touching his.

"Don't ever do that again," whispered Kate against his lips threating, before she threw him across the room.

Kate bit on her finger trying to hide her smirk as she saw his baffled expression. She failed to hide her smirk. Laughing or more giggling Kate turned to leave the room.

"I'll look for Vicki. I'm hungry," laughed Kate.

A growl could be heard behind her, but the young vampire ignored it. Suddenly Damon stood in front of her grabbed her by the neck and pulled her towards him. But before anything else could happen Vicki interrupted him.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked Vicki. She received two growls as answer. Kate moved away from Damon, turning her gaze to Vicki, who only wore her panties and a tank top.

"How was your shower, Vicki?" asked Kate with a smirk on her face.

"It was great," answered Vicki. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, touching the spot Damon had bitten her the previous night. Thanks to Kate's blood, the bite was gone.

She turned back towards the vampires and asked, "What did you give me?"

"Some blood. You loved it," drawled Damon.

Kate bumped her hip into him and shrugged, "I thought I had compelled her not to ask stupid questions?"

"Oh, don't be like that Kate," said Damon. He brushed several curls behind her ear, making sure that he touched as much of Kate's skin as possible.

"Okay. Wait, I'm confused. How did we get here?" Kate rolled her eyes at Vicki's question. Vicki walked up to the vampires, who were standing very close to each other. She asked herself if they were together.

"Looks like my compulsion failed," murmured Kate.

Damon had an arm around her shoulder, playing with one of her curls. She could feel his lips on her ear forming into his trademark smirk.

"Are you still hungry?" asked Damon. Kate turned her head, so that she could see his face and nodded. She knew that he was planning something and she wanted to know what it was.

Damon looked deep into Vicki's eyes and started to compel her, "We met in the woods. You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends, brought you here. Kate gave you some of her blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down."

"Okay. But first, can I have another hit?" asked Vicki eagerly, "That blood was so good."

Kate huffed at that, "I am not a blood bag. I gave you my blood to heal you, not to get you high."

"Wait for a minute," compelled Damon Vicki again.

His eyes looked into Kate's as he tried to convince her, "You can also drink from her, you know."

Kate thought about this for a second as she suddenly had an idea. A smirk came on her face.

"Fine, I'll do it but you'll have to drink from her too," Kate's offer surprised Damon, "If I can't drink your blood than we can at least share a meal together."

Not even waiting for an answer Kate turned towards Vicki and said, "I'll give you my blood, but only if Damon and I can drink yours."

Vicki nodded and held out her wrist for Kate. The young vampire bit in her wrist, then she bit into Vicki's wrist and gave the girl her wrist. She heard Damon move. He stepped behind Vicki, put her hair away from her neck and bit down. Both were looking in eyes of the other. There was intensity in their stares. Somehow drinking from the same human felt extremely intimate. For Kate the blood wasn't that important. At the moment she wanted nothing more than to get rid of Vicki and jump Damon.

* * *

The music was booming through the boarding house, the loud volume slightly hurting in Kate's ears. She had stolen one bottle of Damon's finest alcohol and was drinking straight from the bottle. Moving her body to the music, Kate let go completely. While she was dancing she felt a hand take hers and spinning her around. With laughter Kate crushed into Damon's chest. Damon let go of her hand and put his hands on her waist, while Kate slung her arms around his neck still holding the bottle in her hand. A smile graced her features as she lent her forehead against Damon's chest. She had to admit that all in all she was having fun, being around Damon brought out a side on her she slowly started to like.

Damon's hands moved lower, stopping at her hips. His fingers disappeared under her shirt, caressing her skin. As Kate let out a moan, she lost hold of the bottle, letting it crash to the floor. Damon stopped and growled a frustrated 'Kate'. Kate lifted her head as she felt him move away from her, but before Damon could move farther, she stopped him.

"Don't," whispered Kate and placed her hands on either side of his face.

Kate's eyes were focused on his eyes as she pulled his face down to hers. As their noses brushed against each other and their breath mingled, Kate focused on his lips. All morning she had wanted to kiss him, but they were always interrupted before anything could happen. Kate knew that this was wrong. After all the things Damon had done she shouldn't want to kiss him. At the moment the young vampire didn't care. She didn't care about her feelings for Stefan or what her friends and her sister would say about this. She didn't even care that Vicki was in the next room, babbling about something that didn't interest Kate.

Kate closed her eyes as her lips touched Damon's. Following an instinct, she grabbed his hair, pulling him closer. Damon's hands grabbed her thighs and slung her legs around his legs. Suddenly Kate felt her back being roughly pushed against the wall, making her moan. Damon took this as invitation and stuck his tongue inside her mouth, their tongues massaging the other, fighting for dominance. She moved her hands between them, ripping open Damon's shirt. Her hands brushed over his chest, feeling the muscles move under the skin.

She couldn't stop but smirk in the kiss as she heard Damon moan. She felt something vibrate against the inside of her thigh. Kate knew what it was. Her hand wandered from Damon's chest lower to the edge of his pants. While she was trying to reach her phone, she brushed against the prove off how much Damon was enjoying this. Damon let go of her lips and kissed down her neck using his tongue and his teeth. Kate stopped her search to moan his name.

"What are you doing, Kate?" asked Damon and continued his assault on her neck.

"Getting my phone," breathed Kate out.

She reached the vibrating phone and took it out of his pocket. Before she picked up the phone she rubbed herself against his growing erection, making Damon growl.

"Hey, this is Kate. Whoever you are I…," started she as she suddenly with a wisp of air found herself pressed down on the couch with Damon's lips on hers.

Damon didn't care who was on the phone. He only wanted the girl that was moaning under him. Relishing in her lemony ginger scent and her intoxicating taste. Katherine was the least thing on his mind.

Kate was still holding the phone to her ear, while her other hand was once again in Damon's hair. The voice that came out of the phone made Kate stop.

"Kate? What are you doing there?" It was no one else than Caroline.

It was like suddenly Kate came back to her senses. She pushed Damon off her, jumped up and disappeared upstairs, breathing heavy. Kate closed her eyes as she lent against the door of the room in which she took refuge. As she opened them she saw that it was Damon's room. Kate sat down on the bed and went back to her phone call from Caroline.

"Are you still there, Care?" asked Kate, trying not to make her best friend suspicious.

"Was I interrupting something?" Kate could hear the grin in her best friends voice.

Kate shook her head laughing, "What makes you think that?"

"Let me think. The loud music, the kissing sounds and the moaning. You were about to have sex with someone. Who?"

"I wasn't going to have sex with him," Kate wasn't really sure if that was true. She had no idea how far she and Damon would have gone if Caroline hadn't called.

"Did you turn into Elena? Since when are you a saint? It was time that you got laid. Do you even remember how sex works?" asked Caroline. Kate couldn't stop her growl.

"Did you just growl? How frustrated must you be. So, are you telling me who it is?"

'The guy who treated you like dirt and used you as a blood bag,' probably wasn't the appropriate answer.

"I can't tell you. At least not yet, but I promise I'll tell you later."

"Fine. I can wait for a bit, but then I want all the details. Got it, Kate?"

Kate laughed, "It's a promise."

Feeling very guilty Kate hung up. With a frustrated groan Kate let herself fall on the bed. That didn't help her with the mess of feelings in the slightest. She was in Damon's room, naturally his bed smelled like him. It annoyed her that now she wanted Damon even more than she had before. She could still taste him on her tongue; feel his touches on her skin and the feeling of his body against hers. It was truly frustrating. It seemed like she had feelings for Stefan, but was sexually attracted to Damon.

Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming upstairs. For a while she thought that Damon would go to his room, instead she heard the two pairs of footsteps going to Stefan's room. Only seconds late she could hear crashing. Kate rolled her eyes. Damon and Vicki were crashing Stefan's stuff. She should have gone upstairs to stop them, but she didn't feel like facing Damon right away.

Suddenly Kate heard a noise that she could associate with crashing Stefan's stuff. It was a loud cracking noise. Her curiosity won. Kate left Damon's room and went to Stefan's. As she entered the room she saw the chaos in the room, Damon holding something that looked like a picture and Vicki lying on the floor. Damon quickly hid the picture as he saw Kate.

"What happened here? Why is Vicki…" She stopped as she realized that she couldn't hear Vicki's heartbeat.

She kneeled down next to the girl and saw that her neck had been broken. In disbelieve she looked at Damon, "You snapped her neck. Why did you do that?"

"I was bored," shrugged Damon.

* * *

Kate was pacing furious through Stefan's room, while Damon was trying to find out how long he could hold his hand in the sun before it hurt.

"You can't just simply snap Vicki's neck, exclaimed Kate, stopping her pacing.

Damon rolled his eyes and with a wisp of air he stood in front of her, "If I remember it correctly, you wanted to kill her."

"Yes," admitted Kate, "But not when she has my blood in her. When she wakes up she'll be in transition and she is going to be my responsibility. Stefan is going to be angry."

Damon growled at the mention of his brother, "Are you really going to be so pathetic and live your life like my brother would want you? We both know that he isn't going to leave Elena. You said it yourself you're always second best to your sister."

Kate lost it and threw him across Stefan's room. He crashed into the shelf. Kate was shaking in anger. She remembered how she had once mentioned being always second best to Elena. Back then he had ignored it, now he had used it to hurt her. She didn't know with who she was angrier, herself or Damon. The only reason he knew about her insecurities was because she once again hadn't kept her mouth shut. She shouldn't be surprised. Damon wasn't the good guy. She should have known that he was going to use every little information he got from her against her. But still it hurt.

Kate closed her eyes, trying to get her feelings under control. There was something in the back of her mind, tempting her. Something told her that it would stop the hurting. She resisted the feeling and opened her eyes in shock.

"What the hell was that?" asked Kate.

While Kate had discovered some strange thing in the back of her mind, Damon stood up again.

"That was you throwing me once again through the room," answered Damon, not knowing that Kate was talking about something different.

Kate glared at him, "I wasn't talking about that. There was this feeling in the back of my mind. It was so tempting, promising me to stop the hurt. What was that?"

"The switch," answered Damon, "Vampires have a switch to turn off their emotions. Sometimes it's easier having no feelings."

Kate nodded in understanding. It sounded tempting, but she didn't think that she could live without her feelings.

Suddenly she could hear Vicki groaned. It seemed like her transition had started. Kate kneeled down next to Vicki.

Vicki rubbed her head and sat up. The girl looked around in confusion and asked Kate, "What happened?" She turned to look at Damon, "We were dancing and then…"

"Then I killed you," informed Damon her with a smirk on his face.

"What?" Vicki still was rubbing her neck that had healed because of Kate's blood.

"You're dead," said Damon like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kate once again glared at him.

"I'm dead," Vicki didn't believe it.

Kate rolled her eyes and stood up again, throwing an annoyed glare towards Damon.

"I hate to agree with him, but he is right. You are dead. You drank my blood and then Mister Genius over there killed you," explained Kate to Vicki, who was standing up too.

"Thank you, Katie," drawled Damon while he sat down and spoke to Vicki, "Now you have to feed in order to complete the process."

"You're wasted. Both of you. Ugh," groaned Vicki. She was holding herself up with the help of the table. She grabbed her clothes and wanted to leave.

"Vicki, you don't want to go. Trust me. Being alone out there is dangerous," tried Kate to explain, but Vicki ignored her.

"You're about to get really freaky," said Damon as she suddenly appeared in front of Vicki, stopping her.

"Look, I had a good time. I just wanna go home," Vicki stumbled a bit.

The girl was starting to annoy her. Kate knew that she was responsible for Vicki. It was her blood in her veins, but she just couldn't overcome her distaste for Vicki. Kate grabbed Vicki and turned her around, making the girl face her.

"Listen to me, Vicki. I don't like you in the slightest, but it was my blood that turned you. So, you are going to listen to me. You're going to start craving blood. You are going to lose it, as much as I don't care what happens to you I have the bad feeling that your first victim is going to be my brother. Believe me Vicki, when I tell you that if you hurt him I'll be the one killing you," threatened Kate. Vicki swallowed. Never had she been afraid of Kate before. The coldness in her eyes and her threat made her fear the younger girl.

"Katie, I think you should stop," advised Damon her. He walked past Vicki and took Kate's hand in his pulling her away from the scared girl.

"You know I am right," reasoned Kate, ignoring the fluttering feeling in her stomach as he was still holding her hand.

"I'm going home," said Vicki.

"Okay, fine. She was just warning you," Damon didn't even look at Vicki. His eyes were focused on Kate. Kate on the other hand was looking at Vicki with cold eyes. She truly didn't like Vicki.

"Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house," suggested Damon.

Kate's eyes widened in shock and she looked at Damon in disbelieve. Damon's smirk grew bigger at Kate's shock. Vicki mumbled something and left.

"You just told her to go to my brother. There is a big chance that she is going to kill him. Are you completely insane?" snapped Kate and ripped her hand out of his, "Why are you always doing that? One moment you are nice to me and the next you are the biggest ass on the planet. Do you like seeing me angry and frustrated?"

"Don't be so overdramatic, Katie," Kate wanted nothing more than to punch the cockiness out of him.

"Stop calling me, Katie. I hate it," snapped Kate and turned to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" asked Damon.

Kate answered without turning back, "Wherever Vicki is going. She is my responsibility and I won't let her hurt my little brother."

"If you see my little brother, tell him to call me," called Damon after her.

Kate only rolled her eyes. How could one person be nice once second and the next so impossibly annoying?

* * *

Kate used her vampire speed to catch Vicki and the whole way to the Gilbert house Kate tried to convince Vicki to come back to the boarding house with her. Vicki didn't want to listen. The young vampire had also tried to compel Vicki. It didn't work. As Kate could see her house she blurred in front of Vicki, stepping in her way.

"Vicki, wait. We should go back to the boarding house. You are in transition, being around Jeremy is dangerous," reasoned Kate calmly. She truly tried to be patient with Vicki.

"Ugh," Vicki held her head and made sure that her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, "I have no idea what you are even talking about."

Kate was once again close to threatened Vicki, the girl made her lose her patience.

"You don't know what is going on?" fumed Kate, "I did nothing else than explain it to you all the way. But then again I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't understand. You must have destroyed every last brain cell in you with your drugs. Explains your low intelligence."

Vicki scuffed, "I have better things to do then listening to you. It's obvious that you hate me."

"I wouldn't say hate. Lets try despite you," drawled Kate.

Vicki shook her head and brushed past Kate. The vampire grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"If you hurt my brother then I'll kill you in the most slowest and painful way possible," threatened Kate with a cruel smirk on her lips, making Vicki shudder in fear. Kate let go of Vicki's arm and followed the girl to her front door. Vicki used the doorbell and knocked against the door completely hysteric.

"You don't have to be so nervous. If my brother gets hurt I'll kill you not now," drawled Kate and played with one of her curls. Inside she could hear Jeremy running down the stairs. A bit later he opened the door.

As the door opened Vicki pushed her way inside the house, "The sun is killing me. My eyes are on fire."

Jeremy saw his older sister and wanted to close the door, but Kate held the door open.

"Wow, you don't have any manners at all," glowered Kate and stepped inside.

"I found her and decided to follow her to make sure that she didn't get hurt," Kate didn't even try to hide the distaste for Vicki in her voice.

Jeremy huffed, "Since when do you care what happens to Vicki."

Kate only smirked and closed the door.

Jeremy didn't even try to understand his sister's behaviour and turned to his girlfriend to ask, "Where have you been?"

"It's good. Everything's good," calmed Vicki him down and kissed him.

Kate tried not to gag at the sight in front of her. Did they have to exchange saliva right in front of her? She took her eyes of the pair. Sadly, she could also hear them very clearly. Heightened vampire senses weren't always a good thing.

"Well, did something happen?" asked Jeremy after they had finished exchanging saliva.

"I'm hungry," said Vicki and ran towards the kitchen, "What do you got to eat?"

Kate followed Vicki in the kitchen, ignoring her brother. She remembered the hunger as she had been in transition and the chaos she had left behind in the kitchen. Nothing could satisfy her hunger. At the time she hadn't known that it had been blood that she craved.

Jeremy followed the girls in the kitchen. Vicki opened the door and took out food.

"You're high, Vicki? It's the middle of the day," Jeremy couldn't believe it.

"Don't sound so surprised. It's the only thing that she is good in," drawled Kate.

"How about you just shut up, Kate?" spat Jeremy.

"Could you just not talk so loud? My head hurts. I need quiet," snapped Vicki at the siblings and took more food out of the fridge. She started to eat.

"I think you should call Matt," suggested Kate in a whisper.

"Why don't you do that?" asked Jeremy, also in a whisper.

Kate rolled her eyes and explained, "You are her boyfriend. If you want to do something for her, call Matt."

With one last glance towards Vicki, Jeremy did as Kate told him. Kate's eyes were on Vicki watching her. She had realized that telling Vicki to do something didn't make any sense. She wouldn't listen. The thought of calling Stefan was wandering through her mind, but he probably wouldn't pick up. Damon had been using her phone to call Stefan, he would think that it was Damon once again. Jeremy came back inside the kitchen and informed Kate that he had called Matt.

Minutes later Matt arrived. Jeremy lets him in and brings him to the kitchen. Vicki was hiding in the shadows drinking a soda. The table was covered in food, the girl had tried to eat.

"What's she on?" asked Matt Jeremy.

"I don't know. Kate found her," told Jeremy. Matt looked at Kate questionably.

"She was already this messes up when I found her," lied Kate. She hardly could tell Matt, that Damon had sucked his sister dry then Kate had fed her blood to heal her and then Damon snapped Vicki's neck.

Matt kneeled down next to Vicki. Kate decided to clean up the mess Vicki made, but she also tried to pay attention to Vicki, Matt and Jeremy.

Vicki was telling Matt that her gums were hurting. Kate remembered that, now she knew that it was the canines trying to pierce through. The moment the transition was complete it didn't hurt.

Matt tried to convince Vicki to go home, but instead Vicki suddenly started to scream, "Just turn it off."

Kate stopped her cleaning, put down the plate she was holding and walked into the living room. There was the TV on. The sound was for human ears barely audible, but Kate could hear it loud and clear.

"Turn what off?", asked Jeremy.

"The talking, the chatter. Just turn it off," screamed Vicki. She stood up and walked in the living room, in which Kate was following the news.

The news were talking about bodies that have been found on the cemetery. The bodies Damon and Kate had burned to cover their tracks. Suddenly Kate got a very bad feeling.

Jeremy grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. Now even Matt and Jeremy could hear Logan Fell report about the three bodies that were found. The cover story was a drug deal gone awry. Kate lifted an eyebrow in surprise. She had a feeling that something was wrong.

"That's where we were last night," exclaimed Jeremy.

"What?" Kate turned around not believing what she just heard. Jeremy had been there yesterday. She didn't even wanted to imagine what would have happened if he had been there last night.

"What happened, Vick?" asked Matt and decided, "I'm calling the cops."

"No, don't," Vicki stopped him. Kate had to agree with her. In Vicki's state it wasn't a good idea to call the cops. That only meant more people that could get hurt.

"What happened after I left last night?" asked Jeremy his girlfriend. He moved closer to her.

The next thing happened fast, Vicki was about to shove Jeremy as suddenly Kate grabbed her wrist. Kate moved so fast that Matt and Jeremy were surprised.

"Didn't you remember what I told you?" asked Kate threatening, still holding Vicki's wrist in her hand. Kate had to control her strength so that she wouldn't break Vicki's wrist in her anger.

Kate could hear the front door opening. From the scents she knew that it were her sister and Stefan. They entered the living room and saw a very confused Matt and Jeremy, a frightened Vicki and the reason for Vicki's fear, Kate holding Vicki's wrist in a tight grip.

"What's going on?" asked Elena, her gaze especially on her sister and Vicki, who tried to free herself from Kate's hold.

"She's really messed up," explained Matt to her.

Stefan looked around. It took him only seconds to realize what was going on and he walked to the group in the living room. He gently pulled Elena out of the way and focused his attention on Kate.

"Kate," said Stefan softly. Kate's eyes left Vicki's face and met Stefan's.

The moment their eyes met, Kate suddenly felt calmer. She let go of Vicki's wrist, knowing that Stefan could deal with this situation better than she did.

Stefan nodded. He would have to ask her later what had happened. Kate left the group alone and continued to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

Elena was confused and tried very hard to ignore the jealousy inside of her. She had seen Kate's cold glare towards Vicki and how it disappeared the second Stefan said her name. Once again she saw that her sister and Stefan understood each other on a level that she couldn't. She asked herself it was possible that Kate already knew that Stefan and Damon were vampires.

Stefan ordered Matt and Jeremy to bring Vicki upstairs. Elena joins Kate in the kitchen, who stopped her cleaning once again. Kate waited for Stefan to come back in the kitchen. She knew that she had to tell him what had happened. She was afraid what he would think. The whole day Kate had been alone with Damon and it already was affecting her actions. She acted crueller. He dark side came out to play.

"You know what's wrong with her?" asked Elena as Stefan came back in the kitchen.

"Yeah," answered Stefan.

"What is it?"

"She's transitioning."

"Transitioning to what?"

"A vampire," said Kate.

"What?" Elena couldn't believe, not only was Vicki turning into a vampire, but her sister also knew about the existence of vampires. It seemed like her suspicion was right.

"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet," explained Stefan to Elena, who was slowly starting to freak out. Kate asked herself how much her twin was going to freak out if she found out that her own twin was a vampire.

"How does she do that?" asked Elena.

"She has to feed on human blood," answered Stefan.

"And if she doesn't she dies. Just to stop the next question that you were going to ask, Elena," interjected Kate, " And with dies I mean death, like death, not vampire death."

"How did this happened?" asked Stefan Kate.

"What do you mean?" Kate tried to dodge the question innocently.

Stefan's crossed his arms in front of his chest, "You were alone with Damon the whole day, Kate. What happened?"

"You were alone with Damon? That's why you couldn't come over this morning?" exclaimed Elena as she heard that her sister had been alone with the evil Salvatore.

"I didn't had a choice," She told Elena and then looked at Stefan to explain, "Like you knew he had my bracelet. I was forced to stay with him in the boarding house. As the night fell, he insisted to get something to eat. I helped him, looking at the fact that he couldn't stand alone on his feet without my help. And he threatened that he wouldn't give me back my bracelet. To shorten the story, four teenagers on a cemetery dead, but Miss Donovan upstairs didn't wanted to die. Because Damon was bored, we took her with us. A bit of vampire blood and a snapped neck later, I was following Vicki to my lovely home. The end."

"Because of a stupid bracelet," said Elena in disbelieve.

"What can I say? I love my bracelet and the little fact that I burn in the sun if I don't wear it, makes me love it even more," drawled Kate, playing with one of her curls.

"Wait, you aren't…" Elena started and turned to Stefan," She isn't…"

"Kate is a vampire, Elena," Stefan told her.

Elena looked at him with her mouth open, not believing what she had just heard.

"Oh, look at her. Completely confused with her mouth open. Isn't that adorable," laughed Kate.

"Kate," Stefan whispered her name, so that only Kate could hear him. It had occurred what he had feared all along. Kate had spent her day alone with Damon and at the moment acted like she had pulled the switch.

"What did you do, Kate?" asked Stefan. The only explanation he could find for her behaviour was that Damon had forced her to kill and to escape the guilt she had turned off her feelings.

"What makes you think that I did something?" asked Kate.

"The way you are acting makes me think that, Kate. It seems like you turned off your feelings," explained Stefan, moving closer to Kate.

"Right, I have a switch now. I can turn off my feelings. Damon told me about that," said Kate slightly accusing, "Why didn't you told me about it?"

"I hoped that you wouldn't even be tempted to give in to it if you didn't knew about it."

"Nice explanation and don't worry. I didn't turn off my feelings. I am only having fun," Kate smirked.

"What kind of fun?" Stefan asked suspicious. He could hear Damon's influence out of her.

"Like killing one of the three dead teenagers, feeding from one and then there was the thing with giving Vicki my blood. I didn't kill her that was Damon. I would have killed her before and not taken her home with me."

"Oh my god," gasped Elena.

Kate only shrugged her shoulders. She was tired of feeling guilty all the time. Was it so wrong that she wanted to have a bit of fun?

"Elena, can you leave us alone?" asked Stefan Elena, feeling the fear from the girl.

Elena ignored him, "What is wrong with you? That isn't you, Kate."

Kate rolled her eyes as she saw her sister cry and groaned, "Urgh, do you always have to cry? It is annoying."

"Don't you see what Damon did to you? This isn't who you are Kate," exclaimed Elena.

"This isn't who I am?" snapped Kate, scaring Elena, "You don't know who I am, Elena. No one of my family does. The only thing you want is your old Kate back. I got a message for you. The sister you are missing so much is dead. Jeremy is right. I am not your sister anymore and you aren't mine."

More tears run down Elena's cheeks at Kate's hateful words. Elena shook her head; she couldn't believe what Kate said. As much as Kate's words were hurting her, Elena knew that there was still a part of her sister there.

"Wow, who thought that you could cry that much? Pathetic, really," laughed Kate cruelly.

"Kate, stop it," said Stefan.

"Nope, not yet. First I want to tell Miss Perfect how I killed Dr Grant and loved every second of it. I was covered in his blood. You can ask Stefan," Kate smirked and let out a giggle, "Oh, and the few days I was gone. I wasn't out of town, but with your boyfriend. We even slept in the same bed. Nothing happened, although there were several almost kisses. One when I was still human. Funny about that later that night he went and kissed you…"

"Stop it, Kate," growled Stefan.

Elena was startled at Stefan's reaction. She had never heard him like that. The smirk on Kate's face grew.

"So, it wasn't just the phone. Angry you sounds hot," mused Kate.

"Elena, please go upstairs," pegged Stefan.

"No, don't. I was just starting to have fun," pouted Kate.

Elena looked between her sister and Stefan, not knowing what to do.

"Elena, please," Stefan looked her deep in the eyes. Something in his eyes made her trust him and she left her sister and Stefan alone to go upstairs to her room.

With her eyebrow lifted, Kate's eyes followed her sister as she left the room. As the door of Elena's room closed, Kate suddenly felt Stefan press her against the counter with his arms on either side of her. Stefan made sure that their bodies weren't pressed against each other, keeping a certain distance between them.

Kate lifted an eyebrow, with a smirk on her lips she looked at the space between them.

"Turn them on again," pegged Stefan.

"I didn't turn them off," said Kate annoyed and rolled her eyes, "I would know if I turned them off."

"Tell me what are you feeling at the moment?"

"Lust, want, hunger," answered Kate, grabbing Stefan by the collar of his shirt, pulling her closer.

Her nose brushed over his jaw, taking in his scent. He smelled like the forest. Stefan knew that he should push Kate away, but he hoped that she would turn her feelings on again if he let her close. At least it was what he was trying to tell himself.

Kate's fingers moved from his collar into his hair. His light brown and always perfect hair. She lifted her head, her lips brushing against his lips.

"What do I have to do so that you turn your feelings on again?" asked Stefan, trying to let her lemony ginger scent not to cloud his mind.

"Kiss me," whispered Kate, her lips barely touching his.

"I can't. I wouldn't be fair to Elena," whispered Stefan.

Kate pushed him away from her and snapped, "Fine."

Before Stefan could do anything else, Kate had left the kitchen and disappeared upstairs in her bedroom. He couldn't kiss her, although he had played with that thought for a while. But he couldn't not only because of Elena. He had smelled his brother on her.

Kate walks in her room, slamming her door shut, making a few pictures fall to the floor. With a growl she started to pick them up. She stopped as she saw the picture she was holding. It was one with her and Caroline. Kate could remember when that was taken. Caroline and she had been shopping. They had started to fool around and taken pictures while trying on dresses. A smile crept on Kate's face at the memory. They had laughed so much.

"Damn it," cursed Kate.

Suddenly she realized what she just had done. She had given in to her dark side and had treated her sister like she meant nothing to her. And she had tried to seduce Stefan. In embarrassment, she let herself fall on her bed. She sat up again as she remembered what else she had done today.

"Right, I kissed the cocky asshole. I am an idiot," groaned Kate and fell back on the bed.

Kate heard someone opening her door. She sat up again and saw Stefan entering her room.

"How is Vicki?" asked Kate.

"She is in Jeremy's room. She may only have a few hours," answered Stefan.

"You seem different," stated Stefan.

Kate let out a laugh, "Yeah, I realized that I gave into my dark side and said a few things I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

"It's not me you have to apologize to," said Stefan and sat down next to her.

"I know, but I should have respected you. With my words I didn't only hurt Elena, but also you," Kate turned her head to look into Stefan's eyes. She couldn't see any anger in his eyes, just pure understanding and care.

"Vicki is my responsibility. It was my blood who turned her and if she decides to complete the transition then I'll help her," said Kate.

"You don't have to do this Kate."

"I know, but it is the right thing to do. But I might need some help."

"You know that I'll be always there to help you, Kate."

Stefan put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her to him.

"I know and I thank you for it, Stefan."

Kate slung an arm around his waist, resting her head against his chest. She could feel Stefan placing a kiss on her head. She ignored the want to pull him into a proper kiss. Although Elena might be afraid of him, Kate knew that Elena would accept it one day.

They broke their hug as they heard Vicki running out of the house. Both jumped up and ran downstairs. But it was too late. Vicki had disappeared.

"She was fine and then she just freaked out," explained Jeremy. He had no idea what was going on.

"I'm gonna go lock for her. Call me if you hear anything," said Matt and jumped in his truck.

"I can track her," Stefan told Elena.

"Go," said Elena.

As Stefan wanted to leave, Kate stopped him, "Wait, what am I supposed to do?"

"Stay here. I'll call when I find her," He said before he left.

* * *

Elena was in the kitchen cleaning up the rest of the mess, left behind by Vicki as Kate entered. Elena didn't saw her twin sister.

"Do you need help?" asked Kate.

Elena turned around and let the plate fall that she was holding. The plate didn't touch the floor as Kate had caught it.

"How did you do that?" asked Elena.

Kate laughed, "Vampire speed. I am not sure if it is called this way, but I just do."

Elena nodded and took back the plate.

"I'm sorry, Elena," Kate started to apologize, "I was cruel. I shouldn't have said those things to you. My feelings are all heightened and it is hard to keep them in check."

"Is it true?" Elena put the plate away and looked at her twin, "Do you really feel like we only want the old Kate back?"

Kate lowered her head, "You are all always talking about the past and I can't remember a thing. Sometimes I have this feeling that I don't belong here. Everything feels so wrong, like I am forced to live a life that isn't mine. It doesn't feel like that when I am around Caroline or Stefan. Hell, even Damon. I don't understand it myself."

"Why didn't say something?" asked Elena with tears in her eyes.

"Because it would hurt you. I just couldn't do that. I know that Miranda and Grayson are my parents, but I just never felt like they were. I know that Jeremy is my brother and only recently I truly started to properly feel this way. The only exception was you. The moment I met you I knew that we are family, not because we look the same. It was a feeling, a bond and I knew that you and I are family, that I had to protect you," explained Kate.

Elena did something that surprised Kate. She threw her arms around her sister's neck and hugged her. Kate went stiff for a second. First she had to get used to the smell of her sister's blood. After a while she hugged her sister back.

"Give me a warning next time. I am still young. I need a bit of time to get used to the smell of blood, so that I don't lose it," whispered Kate in her twin's ear.

"I'll remember that and I accept your apology. But promise me that you will try to control yourself and not kill again," whispered Elena.

"I promise."

They broke the hug with smiles on both their faces.

"I should do this more often, talk with you about how I feel. It feels good," laughed Kate.

"Can I hug you again?" asked Elena.

Kate laughed and pulled her sister another hug. They broke the hug as they heard the doorbell.

"Do you think it is Stefan?" asked Elena Kate.

"I don't know. Lets find out," said Kate with a smirk.

Kate, Elena and Jeremy, who had come out of the living room, hoping that it was Vicki, walked to the door. Elena opened the door and before it was even open, Kate caught an all to familiar scent. Elena opened the door, revealing Damon. She wanted to close the door again, but Damon held it open.

"Jeremy, go upstairs," ordered Elena. Giving his sister a confused glare, he did what he was told.

Kate stepped next to Elena, giving Damon her best glare.

"You're afraid of me," stated Damon in interest "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from her, Damon," snapped Kate.

"Hey, there's no need to rude, Katie. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh wait, of course I can. I've been invited."

Kate rolled her eyes and stepped in front of Elena, walking backwards as Damon came inside the house. He closed the door behind him. Elena could once again see that Damon's eyes didn't leave Kate. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't explain.

"We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not going to kill your sister right now," said Damon and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So, where is Stefan?"

"He is your little brother. Shouldn't you know that?" mocked Kate, "And is there any chance that you'll stop calling me Katie?"

"Nope. Where is Stefan, Katie?" Kate knew that he did it on purpose, like his only reason to live was to annoy her.

"He's out looking for Vicki," said Elena and stepped next to Kate.

"Don't look at me with those judge-y little eyes. Girl's gonna tank me for what I did to her," said Damon and moved forward. Kate once again pulled Elena behind herself.

He invaded Kate's personal space, ignoring Elena's presence. At their closeness Kate once again remembered their kiss. Even Elena could feel the sexual tension between Damon and her sister.

"Did you thank Katherine?" asked Elena, trying to break the tension.

Damon brushed one of Kate's curls behind her ear, his eyes didn't leave Kate's.

"Sounds like someone got the whole life story, huh?"

His finger caressed Kate's neck. Kate did her best not to show any reaction to his touches.

"Leave her alone, Damon," Kate forced herself to say.

Damon only smirked and leant in. His lips brushed over Kate's cheek. He could hear her take a deep breath.

"Tell my brother I'm looking for him," whispered Damon in her ear, before he pulled away from her and walked to the door.

Kate suddenly missed his closeness and cursed herself the same minute. She shouldn't want to have Damon around her.

"Wait," Kate stopped him, surprising Damon and Elena, "I'll come with you."

"Why?" asked Damon, his eyes following Kate's movements as she put on a leather jacket.

"I don't trust you to leave Elena and Jeremy alone," She answered simply and walked out of the door Damon was holding open.

She stopped and turned to Elena, "Don't invite anyone in. Not even someone you know."

Kate grabbed Damon's hand and pulled him outside, closing the door behind her. Actually, Kate wanted to let go of Damon's hand, but instead she found herself dragged into the forest. Damon didn't let go of her hand. Kate hated the tingling feeling that his touch gave her.

"You didn't answer my question earlier," Kate tried to start a conversation.

"What question, Kat?" asked Damon. He knew the question she was asking about.

"Kat, really? What happened to Katie?"

"I thought you hated it to be called Katie?"

Kate shook her head, "You know that Kate already is short for Katherine, but forget that. Are you going to answer my question or not?"

Damon didn't answer her. Before Kate could ask another time, they heard a shot. Damon locked his eyes with Kate and then he speed with her in the direction the shot had come from. Kate didn't expect this and lost her balance as they came to a stop. Her free hand held onto his leather jacket, making sure that she didn't fell. Damon put a hand over her mouth, stopping her cursing. His eyes locked with Kate's, asking silently for her to trust him. Kate nodded. He pulled his hand away from her mouth and let go of her hand. Kate turned around and saw what had happened.

Logan Fell was about to stake Stefan, but before he could do it she felt a wisp of air behind her and Damon appeared behind Logan, ripping him of his brother. Kate run to Stefan and fell to her knees next to him. Taking a deep breath, Kate pulled out the bullet from Stefan's chest. Stefan was grunting in pain.

"I'm sorry," Kate apologized, as she had the bullet out of Stefan's body.

"It's wood," She stated. She heard Damon drop the body behind her.

"Damon, it's a wooden bullet," She informed him and held out the bullet for him to take.

He took it and said, "They know."

"They know?" asked Kate confused.

"The council."

"The same council that plans stupid and annoying town events?"

"Yep," He kneeled down next to Kate.

"If anyone is going to kill you, it's gonna be me," said Damon and held out his hand, "My ring."

Stefan took the ring out of hid pocket and gave it back to Damon. He took it and put it back on his finger.

"Wow, I just can feel all the brotherly love around the two of you," said Kate sarcastically.

Suddenly Kate heard someone feed and turned towards the sound. Vicki was feeding on Logan Fell.

"No. No, Vicki," exclaimed Stefan.

Vicki stopped feeding and lifted her head. Her mouth was covered in blood. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and apologized. Vicki stood up and ran away.

"Well, I looked worse," stated Kate.

"How much worse?" asked Damon.

"I was covered in blood from head to toe."

Damon stood up and held out his hand to help Kate up. She accepted it. Kate walked towards Logan, ignoring the smell of his blood. Not far away from his dead body she saw the watch Elena had let Jeremy keep. It was a Gilbert heirloom. She picked it up and studied it. As she opened it she saw that there was something like a compass in it. Suddenly Damon took the watch from her.

"Hey, that's mine," Kate tried to get the watch back.

"Now, it's mine," Damon held the watch up so Kate couldn't reach it.

Stefan stood up and shook his head at the childish behaviour in front of him, "I'll go and talk with Elena. When you tow are finished, look for Vicki."

With that Stefan left his brother and Kate alone, although he didn't like the thought of the two alone.

"You won't give me the watch back, right?" asked Kate, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Yes."

Kate rolled her eyes and pointed at Logan, "What are we going to do about him?"

"We leave him. There might be others on the way. Come on," Damon took her hand in his and led her away.

"Why is there a compass in the watch? The last time I saw it, it was a normal watch," said Kate.

"It is a compass to find vampires. They used it in 1864," explained Damon.

"Oh," Kate understood, "That's how they found the vampires and then they locked the vampires in the church before they burned it."

Damon nodded and Kate said, "I'm sorry. That's the way you lost Katherine and I am sorry."

Damon stopped and turned to Kate. He didn't understand her, the girl in front of him. A big part of their time together she did nothing else then show her how much she disliked him, but then there were moments in which he wasn't so sure that she hated him. Kate Gilbert was even more mysterious and complex than Katherine Pierce. He didn't thought that this was even possible.

Damon let go of her hand and cupped her face, leaning down. Kate didn't stop him, because she wanted to kiss him once again although he was annoying her a big part of their time together. Once again she forgot her feelings for Stefan and forgot the fact that she had tried to kiss Stefan earlier.

Their eyes were locked, studying the other and waiting for the next move. Her patience was growing thin and Kate wanted to pull Damon down to her, but suddenly he took a step backwards, away from her.

"You should go home. Stefan and I will find Vicki," He suddenly said, "You are young and don't know how to track a vampire. You should go home."

Kate stared at him with her mouth open and before she could say anything else Damon disappeared. She didn't understood what had just happened. Kate shook her head and went to the boarding house. She refused to go home instead she would wait there.

The Salvatores would bring Vicki to the boarding house and Kate knew this. She took the book she had been reading a few days ago and threw herself on the couch. Kate swore herself to find out what was going on with Damon.

* * *

**That was it. **

**In the next chapter Camilla will meet vampire Kate.**

**Don't forget to review.**

**xoxo Lynn**


	8. Haunted

**A new chapter, finally. I just realized that this one is even longer than the last one. Well, I had a lot of ideas.  
**

**So, now first after reading a review in which I was asked if this will be a Stefan/Kate or a Damon/Kate story. I decided to create a poll on my profile. Just because at the moment it seems like I am heading towards one pairing doesn't mean that it can't change. Because I am interest what my lovely readers think I created this poll. Please, vote. So, that I know what would interest you all.  
**

**Now, to the reviews.  
**

**SomebodyWhoCares: **Thank you, sweetie. :D**  
**

**Guest: **Thank you. *blushing***  
**

**Tvdlover87654: **Oh, stop it. I'm blushing with all these compliments. I'm glad that this is one of your favorite ff's and that you love Vampire Kate. Hope you'll continue to like her.**  
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**WinchesterSalvatoreLover: **I love them too. I have so much fun writing their scenes.**  
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**emmaline: **Yes, Damon. The reason I actually sticked around to watch TVD in the first place, because he was the only interesting thing on the show. But you have to admit that Stefan is far from boring since we know that he becomes the Ripper when he loses it.**  
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**winxgirl1997: **It took me a while, but I updated, sweetie. Thank you for reviewing.**  
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**Alina:** I am having so much fun writing evil Kate and evil characters in general. They are so much more complex and interesting than good characters. I promise that Kate will be evil, darling.**  
**

**BTW have you heard about the TVD spin off with Joseph Morgan? I don't know what I should think about that. As much as I love the Originals I'll miss them on TVD if the spin off happens.**

**But now, have fun reading.  
**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**Haunted**

The warm water was running down her body, washing away the dirt from the past days. Her fingers touched her lips, remembering how she and Damon had kissed the day before. Kate couldn't understand why he had pulled away in the forest. It wasn't like she hadn't wanted to kiss him. The young vampire had to admit that she didn't hate Damon like she was supposed to. She even dared to say that there was a small part of her that cared a tiny bit about him. She sighed and took her fingers off her lips. She knew that she shouldn't want to kiss Damon, not after everything he had done to her best friend. So, if it was so wrong to be around Damon, why did she felt for the first time since her memory loss like she belonged somewhere? Being around Damon felt right.

Kate sighed again and shook her head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. She turned the shower off and stepped out. With a towel Kate rubbed herself dry and then wrapped it around her body. She left Damon's bathroom and entered his bedroom, as she suddenly felt someone watching her.

"Well, if this isn't a surprise," She heard someone say.

Kate turned around and saw Damon. He lent against the door smirking, with his eyes wandering over Kate's body.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Kate asked, knowing that it had been a stupid question to ask.

"Last time I checked this was my room. I should ask you what you are doing in here," He moved away from the door, walking up to Kate.

Kate huffed, "A woman only dressed in a towel in your room. Like you would mind that."

Damon stood now right in front of her. One of his hands brushed a curl behind her ear, "It deepens on the woman."

Kate was confused over his behaviour. After what had happened the other day in the forest she didn't thought that he would try to be close to her again. But then again who was she to understand the workings of the mind of Damon Salvatore.

Damon's fingers brushed down her cheek to her throat, making Kate shiver. Kate had to bite back a growl as she saw his annoying, cocky smirk. His free hand was placed on her lower back, pulling her closer. The hand that had caressed her throat now was in her hair, tilting her head to the side. Kate's hand grabbed his shoulders as she felt his tongue on her throat and her eyes closed with a moan. Her nails on the verge to break through the material of his shirt, in an attempt to stop herself from throwing Damon on his bed and to have her way with him. Kate had given up to deny that she wanted Damon. Her body would betray her anyway.

She took his face between her hands, pulling his lips from her throat. Both were breathing heavy. Kate's thumbs caressed his cheeks, her eyes moving between his blue eyes and his lips. She moved his head down to her, their breaths mingling and the tip of their noses touching. Suddenly Kate felt Damon's hands over hers, moving them away from his face. He took a step backwards and let go of her hands. Kate looked at him with pure confusion on her face.

"We found Vicki. She is with Stefan in his room," He said, acting like nothing had just happened between them, "She was about to take a bite out of some jerk named Tyler when we found her."

He turned around to leave, but suddenly Kate stood in front of him. Her head was tilted to the side and she had placed her hand lazily on her hip.

"I don't care about Tyler Lockwood. I want to know what is with this hot and cold game you are pulling on me?" Kate asked.

"Don't know what you are talking about," Damon shrugged and tried to move past Kate.

Kate put a hand on his chest, stopping him, "You know exactly what I am talking about."

"No, I don't," He said and moved past her.

Kate shook her head and turned around. Suddenly she had an idea why he was acting like this. It was only a hunch, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

"You care about me," She voiced her thought out loud.

"What?" Damon turned around, not believing what Kate had just said.

"You care about me, more than you want to admit," Kate let out a laugh, "And that's the reason that you push me away, because in the last 146 years you only cared about one thing, Katherine."

Damon stood there with his mouth open, not knowing what he should say. Kate took his silence as a sign that she was right.

"So, that explains why…" Kate couldn't finish her sentence.

"Stop," Damon suddenly stood right in front of her again, "I don't care about you, Kat."

"Lie."

"I mean it, Kat."

"Someone loves living in denial."

Damon let out a growl in frustration, while Kate on the other hand only smirked.

"Admit it, Damon. You care about me, or maybe it is already liking me. It would explain you constantly invading my personal space," Kate teased, trying to get out a confession from him.

"What about you? You let me invade your personal space and let me kiss you. You don't mind being around me one bit. You want to be," Damon pointed out.

Kate looked him in the eyes, her smirk gone. She knew that he was right and a few days earlier, she would have denied it. But now she wouldn't.

"Fine, I won't deny it," Kate put her hands on Damon's chest and moved closer, "I care about you, Damon."

Every bit of anger disappeared in Damon. It wasn't possible. He couldn't believe what she had just said, but as he looked into her eyes he only saw honesty. He cupped her cheeks and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

"Kate?" She heard someone say her name.

Although she didn't want to pull away she did it anyway. Stefan stood by the door, watching the exchange between Damon and Kate. He had to admit as much as he hated the thought of Kate being alone with Damon, somehow the girl managed to show that his brother had a still a bit of humanity in him.

"Perfect timing, brother," Damon said sarcastically and moved away from Kate.

Stefan ignored Damon's comment and spoke with Kate, "Vicki is in my room. If you want you can go talk with her."

"Does she even want to talk with me?" Kate asked, remembering that Vicki was afraid of her. She did her best not to relish in that fact.

"I'm out of here," Damon said and left his room. He needed to think about what Kate had revealed to him.

"I talked with her and she agreed to talk with you, but you should try not to threaten her," Stefan advised her and did his best to keep his eyes from her.

"Okay," Kate nodded. She looked at the pair of fresh clothes she had taken out of her room and put on Damon's bed. The brunette could feel Stefan's eyes on her. She just couldn't risk the temptation. With a smirk on her face she let her towel fall. She could hear a gasp behind her.

Kate turned her head and asked innocently, "Is something wrong, Stefan?"

"I'm fine," Stefan stuttered. He tried not to look at the naked girl in front of him, but he failed.

"See something you like?" Kate asked, while she put on her panties and her bra.

"I think I should go," He stuttered again and fled out of the room.

Kate laughed. She knew that it was wrong, but it had just been too funny to see Stefan embarrassed.

After she had gotten dressed, Kate entered Stefan's room and spotted Vicki sitting on the couch with her phone in her hands.

"How are you Vicki?" Kate couldn't stop herself from speaking with a sharp tone.

Vicki jumped up as she heard Kate's voice. Kate smirked and walked up to Vicki, who tried to get away from Kate.

"What did I do to you that you fear me so much?" Kate asked with a pout on her face.

Vicki stood up from the couch and moved backwards to put a distance between them, "You threatened to kill me."

"I remember," Kate drawled, playing with one of her curls, "And if I remember correctly I told you that I'll kill you if you harm my brother. You know that that also counts for my sister, right?"

"Get away from me. You did this to me," Vicki spat.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Now you are being unfair. I feed you my blood. Damon snapped your neck. Blame him not me."

Vicki took a step backwards, shuttering in fear. Kate stopped playing with her curl and crossed her arm in front of her chest.

"I want to help you, Vicki," Kate sighed.

Vicki huffed at that, "Help me? You hate me, you said it yourself. Why would you want to help me?"

"First, I said I despite you and second, it was my blood that turned you. That means that you are my responsibility," Kate explained, but it didn't help. Vicki didn't want to listen to her.

"Fine, I don't care as long as I don't have to clean up your mess," Kate spat, making Vicki jump.

Kate sat down on Stefan's desk as Stefan walked inside with a cup of blood in his hand. He put it on his desk next to Kate.

"What happened here?" He asked as he saw how scared Vicki was. He gave Kate a questionably glaze.

"I didn't threaten her. She is afraid of me," Kate answered.

"And why is that?" Damon asked as he came in the room. He sat down at Stefan's desk and started to search through the newspaper.

"I know that it is my own fault that she fears me, but it isn't my fault that she lacks a brain," Kate shrugged.

"Kate," Stefan scolded the younger vampire.

He turned to Vicki and told her to call Matt. Kate blocked the conversation and focused on Damon. He was reading the newspaper. She stood up and stepped behind him. She put her arms around his neck, leaning down.

"What are you doing?" Kate whispered in his ear.

"Trying to find out if they wrote something about Logan Fell," He answered.

"And is there something about him in the newspaper?"

"No. Nothing. Not even a word," He closed the newspaper and started to play with the compass, "Someone's covering it up."

"The council?" Kate asked.

"Probably," He turned his head so that he could look into Kate's face.

"What is that?" Vicki asked, looking at the compass in Damon's hand.

"Apparently a very special and old compass," Kate answered.

"Yep. So, what was Logan Fell doing with it? Aren't you curious?" Damon asked his brother.

"Well, if you're worried that somebody's onto you, leave town," Stefan said.

Kate let out a sigh, "I hate to admit it, but maybe we should look into this. Sounds to me like we all should be worried, not only Damon. Although he is the reason that the council knows that there is a vampire in town."

"Didn't you kill your therapist?" Damon asked smirking, "You don't really believe that they think that it was really an animal attack?"

"No, I don't," Kate moved away from Damon and looked at Stefan, "Your brother is annoying."

A small smile came on Stefan's face. Kate returned the smile.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" Vicki asked Stefan.

Kate remembered the cup of blood on Stefan's next. She took it and walked towards Vicki to give her the cup. The brunette could feel Vicki's fear. Ignoring the fear, Kate gave Vicki the cup of blood. Vicki swallowed and slowly took the cup from Kate, watching every movement Kate made. Vicki took the cup and looked inside. Kate went back to her seat on Stefan's desk.

"What is it?" Vicki asked.

"It's blood," Kate drawled.

"It's what you're craving," Stefan said.

"Don't lie to the girl. It's so not what you're craving, but it'll do in a pinch. Right Stef?" Damon said.

"What is it?" Vicki asked.

"I did inform her earlier that it was blood. Some kind of animal blood," Kate scuffed annoyed by Vicki's stupidity.

"Is it skunk? St. Bernard? Bambi?" Damon mocked, making Kate laugh.

"Go on, give it a try," Stefan suggested to Vicki, who took a sip out off the cup.

"She's new. She needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff. Right Kat?" Damon looked at Kate with a smirk on his face. Kate knew what he was doing and she didn't like that he was using her in his pissing contest with his brother.

"Mm, yeah, why can't I have people blood?" Vicki asked.

"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki" Stefan tried to explain.

"You don't have to kill to feed. Find someone really tasty and then erase their memory afterwards. It's so easy," Vicki giggled at that.

"No, no. There's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? It takes years to learn that. You could easily kill somebody and then you have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which if I haven't made clear is eternity," Stefan explained, but it seemed like Vicki rather listened to his brother.

"Don't listen to him. He walks on a moral plane way out of our eyeline. I say snatch, eat, erase," Damon said to Vicki.

Kate realized that Vicki seemed to listen rather to Damon then Stefan. She could feel the eyes of the two brothers on her, like they were waiting for her to choose a side.

"Hey, look at me," Stefan said to Vicki, "We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are."

"Okay, Count Deepak" Damon drawled and leaves the room, "I am out of here."

Kate stood up and took a step towards Vicki, who moved away from Kate. Kate only rolled her eyes.

"You know what I am tired. Stay afraid of me, it might be helpful," Kate tilted her head to the side, "Learn to control yourself. If it is through animal blood or human blood, I don't care, as long as I don't have to bury someone."

With that Kate left the room to find Damon. Stefan was left alone with Vicki. The dynamic between Damon and Kate scared him. Damon brought out Kate's darker side, while Kate brought out Damon's humanity. There was something between them and he didn't like it one bit.

* * *

Kate walked down the stairs, as she saw Damon leaning against a wall like he was waiting for her. He was watching every move she did, trying to understand the girl in front of him.

"Waiting for something?" Kate asked him, as she stood right in front of him with a smile on her face.

"Why my bathroom? Why not use Stefan's bathroom or one of the guest bathrooms?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"Well, your bathroom is amazing. I simply love it," Kate explained, "I had to fight the urge to take a bath instead. Might to that next time."

Still smiling, Kate walked past Damon, but stopped and turned around as she heard his voice.

"Hopefully not alone," He said with his usual cocky smirk on his face. He walked towards Kate.

"Yeah, taking a bath alone can be a bit boring. Do you think your brother might be up for it?" Suddenly with a growl Kate was pressed against a wall by Damon's body.

"Jealous much?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk on her lips. "Come on, Damon. Stefan is with my sister. He would never cheat on her. And that means he would never take a bath with me especially not in your bathroom."

Damon didn't make a move to let her go. He hated the fact that Kate could get a reaction out of him. The second that she mentioned his brother he should have known it. The girl was far from innocent. She was stubborn and determinant, making it her mission to find out if he had any kind of feelings for her. He didn't understand why, it wasn't a secret that Kate had feelings for Stefan. So, why did she want to know what he felt for her? The only reason he was around her was because of her resemblance with Katherine. At least that was what he told himself.

Damon let go of Kate and took a few steps backwards.

"Very nice. I am very protective over my bath," Damon said with a smirk on his face, trying to explain his behaviour.

"Yeah, your bath," Kate said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. She didn't believe him.

"Do we have some blood bags? I am hungry," She asked him and walked past him.

"No, but we could go to town and find some willing victims to feed on," Damon offered.

"Fine," Kate said, surprising Damon. "First, I have to look after Elena. We can meet at the Grill for lunch."

Damon looked at her suspiciously, "What are you up to?"

"Trust me, Damon. When I'm up to something you'll know it," Kate tilted her head to the side and asked, "So, lunch at the Grill or not?"

"Are you trying to turn this into a date?"

"Why would I do that? I'm hungry and I can't control myself. If I could I'll go alone," Kate drawled, "Why do you want this to be a date?"

"What? No," Damon said, "Okay, fine. Lunch at the Grill."

Kate smirked, "Was that so hard, now?"

"Has someone told you that you are annoying?" Damon asked.

Kate only laughed at that. Before she could say anything, the doorbell rang. Kate looked at Damon, lifting an eyebrow in challenge, "I bet I am at the door faster then you are."

"Keep on dreaming, Kat."

With a wisp of air, Kate disappeared towards the front door. Just before she could touch the door, she felt an arm around her waist, pulling her away from the door. Kate could hear Damon laugh. His nose was rubbing over her neck, taking in her scent.

"That is cheating," Kate argued, but Damon didn't care.

"You never said what the rules are," Damon whispered in her ear and opened the door, revealing Elena.

Elena was shocked at the sight in front of her, her sister in Damon's arms, looking pretty cosy. She had seen the day before that there was a lot of sexual tension between them. Now, she asked herself if there was something between them.

"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked, trying to ignore what was happening right in front of her.

"Yep," Damon answered and placed a kiss on Kate's neck.

"Where is he?" Elena's tone a bit more aggressive.

"And good morning to you, Little Miss I'm-on-a-Mission," With a smirk on his face he ignored her question. He lifted his gaze and looked at Elena.

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" Elena crossed her arms over her chest.

"How can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?"

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead."

"Yes, you would."

"But I'm not," Elena stated.

"Yet."

Kate followed the conversation between her sister and Damon with amusement.

"Okay," Kate interrupted their conversation before someone could get hurt. "Let's stop right here."

She looked at Elena and said, "Stefan is upstairs with Vicki," She turned her head so that she could look Damon in the eyes, "And you can try to be a bit nicer the next time."

"Nope," He said, placed a kiss on her cheek and let go of her.

"See you at lunch, Kat," He smirked and left the twins alone.

Kate rolled her eyes and closed the door behind Damon. As she turned around she saw Elena with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Are you and Damon together?" Elena asked angry.

"No, we are just…" Kate stopped to think, "Actually, I don't know what we are."

"What 'we' are?" Elena questioned, "Is there a 'we'?"

"No, Damon and I aren't together. I think we could consider us friends," Kate tried to explain.

"Do you and Caroline are this cosy together?" Elena didn't like how close Kate and Damon obviously were, not after witnessing how her sister had acted after she had spent the whole morning with Damon.

"Elena, please. I don't know what is going on with Damon and I. A few days ago I couldn't stand being in the same room with him. Since I turned something is different and I just need time to think about it. Can we talk about this later?" Kate begged her sister.

Elena nodded, "But we will talk later about this and I'll try not to judge."

"Thank you, Elena," Kate pulled her sister in a hug.

As Kate let go of her sister, she described Elena the way to Stefan's room and let her sister alone. In the living room, Kate took a bottle of Damon's bourbon and drank straight from it. It helped with the cravings. Suddenly her phone rang.

"Kate Gilbert here. What can I do for you?" She said, answering her phone.

"Where are you?" Kate heard the angry voice of her best friend.

"Why?" She tried to dodge the question.

"Why? Why? Today is Halloween, Kate. You aren't at school and now I am running around with your costume."

"Right, Halloween," Kate could slap herself that she had forgotten that.

"Let me guess. You forgot?" Caroline asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, but I have a very good reason," Kate lied.

"Oh my god. It's because of the guy," Caroline didn't sound angry anymore.

"What guy?" Kate asked innocently.

"The guy you were about to have sex with yesterday. You have to tell me everything," Kate could imagine her best friend sitting in her room with that sly smirk on her face.

"Okay, fine. I'll meet you at the Grill and there you can bring me my costume. I hope it isn't the same one from last year."

"No, we aren't going as hot cats this year, but as sexy witches," Caroline told her.

Kate groaned, "Witches? Really? Do I have to?"

"No, the alternative would be vampire," That option was even worse than witch. Kate refused to dress up as a vampire for Halloween.

"No, witch is fine. It has a corset, right?" Kate asked not happy.

"Yes, strapless, red with black lace and I have a matching hat," Caroline told her excited, "You are going to love it."

"No, I'll hate it. But you know that already," Kate heard her best friend laugh, "I'll need to get drunk so that I survive this night."

Caroline started to giggle, "Let's hope that Tyler is around to deal with drunk you."

"Not funny, Care."

"Whatever. I'll see you for lunch," Caroline said before she hung up.

Now, Kate was in trouble. How was she supposed to meet Caroline and Damon at the Grill at the same time?

"Kate?" She heard Stefan ask.

She turned towards him and said, "Yes. What is it?"

"I have to get more blood for Vicki. Can you keep an eye on her?" He asked her.

Kate nodded and went to look for Vicki. It only took her a few seconds to find the freshly turned vampire.  
Vicki was holding Elena by her throat threatening her. Kate didn't think long and grabbed Vicki's wrist in a strong hold. Kate could feel the bones breaking. The pain made Vicki let go of Elena. The next moment Vicki was held by her throat. Kate's nail sank in her flesh, drawing blood. Vicki couldn't breath nor speak.

"I remember telling not to harm my sister," Kate had an evil smirk on her face, "You truly lack a brain. What should I do to you now? Can't have you running around trying to that again."

"Please," Vicki forced herself to say.

"Nope, not working. There is no Stefan here, who can stop me from harming you. But you are lucky. I don't feel like hurting you with my sister in the room," Kate threw Vicki across the room.

"Now, get the hell out of my sight," She snapped towards Vicki, who left without hesitation.

Kate took a deep breath to calm herself and then turned towards her sister. Elena looked at Kate with shock and fear.

"Are you alright, Elena?" Kate asked in concern and Elena's fear disappeared.

"Yeah, I am. Thank you, Kate."

"No problem, but I am afraid that she won't understand that she has to stay away from Jeremy," Kate said with a sigh.

"But she is afraid of you. Can't you make her?" Elena asked.

Kate shook her head, "I tried that, but she doesn't want to understand that it is dangerous for her to be around Jeremy."

"And we can't tell Jeremy to stay away from Vicki, because he wouldn't listen to us," Elena stated.

"Yep, he hates me and he told me that on more than one occasion," Kate huffed.

Elena shook her head, "He doesn't hate you. He only…"

"Right you don't know," Kate said.

"I don't know what, Kate? Tell me," Elena demanded.

Kate let out a sigh, "The day of the Founder's party I tried to talk with Jeremy at the Grill about Vicki. There he told me that I am not his sister anymore and that he wished that I was the one in the car accident and that I should have died and not our parents."

Elena's mouth fell open in disbelieve. She couldn't believe that Jeremy had said something like that.

"That little…" Elena stopped herself from cursing. She put a hand over her mouth as she realized what she had been about to say.

"Did you just wanted to curse, Elena?" Kate asked laughing.

"Yes," Elena admitted, "He should have never said something like that. It was wrong, because you still are our sister."

Kate didn't answer, but instead pulled her sister in a hug. Being a vampire wasn't so bad, because since Kate was one Elena and her seemed closer than before and she loved it.

* * *

Kate, Elena and Stefan stood outside the boarding house, discussing Vicki.

"She threatened me," Elena told Stefan. Kate stood next to her sister, nodding.

"She's on edge, Stefan explained, "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super-speed. I mean. She's uncomfortable in her own skin and when you throw in her other issues…"

"How long before it settles?" Elena interrupted Stefan, "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rulebook," Stefan explained.

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while. I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own," He told her, "The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings: love, lust, anger, desire. It can all blur into one urge: hunger."

"And that means that Jeremy can't see her, because she might not be able to resist him," Kate finished Stefan's explanation, "I can't imagine that either one of them will like to hear that."

"Kate is right. She could hurt him," Stefan agreed with Kate.

"Or worse," Elena pointed out.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt," Stefan promised her.

"I need to get going," Elena said suddenly. It was too much for her. She could only deal with so much at one time and her point for today was reached.

"I'll drive you home if you want," Kate offered.

Elena shook her head, "Thank you, but I just need a bit of time for myself."

Kate nodded in understanding and watched her sister leave.

"She needs time, Kate," She heard Stefan say, as he saw how hurt she looked.

Kate let out a sigh and lent against the railing, "I know I understand it. The whole thing about you, Damon, Vicki and I being vampires can't be easy for her. And now she has to fear what happens if Vicki loses control around Jeremy."

"She takes it better than most do," Stefan said, "You saw Damon kill Tanner and saw what a vampire can do. It was easier to understand. Elena didn't see what a vampire is capable of."

"Let's hope that she never finds out," Kate said.

Kate turned her face looking at Stefan, "A while? What do you meant with that?"

Stefan didn't look in Kate's eyes, not wanting her to see the guilt in them. Kate took a step towards him, feeling that she had asked him something he didn't want to share with her.

"You know that I won't judge you, Stefan," She said softly and put a hand on his arm.

"I know," He looked up, "But I don't know if I can tell you."

"Everyone has a past, Stefan. Running from it won't make it better," Suddenly Kate started laughing, "That so doesn't sound helpful coming from someone who doesn't remember his past."

Stefan laughed at that too, "You are right. I just don't think I can do it now."

"I understand, Stefan. But if you need me you know I'll be there for you," Kate promised him and slung her arms around his neck to hug him.

Stefan slung his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. He took in her lemony ginger smell and tried not to think about this morning. He had problems to get her naked back out of his mind. As kind as Kate could be, she loved to tease everyone around her. Sometimes it shocked him how much she resembled Katherine and he feared that her resemblance with his former lover was the reason for Damon's interest in her.

Kate moved away a bit, still leaving her arms around his neck, "What is this?"

"What?" Stefan asked.

He froze as he suddenly felt Kate's nose brush over his neck, "The smell. I smelled it before. It is so…" Kate run her tongue over his carotid artery, "Intoxicating and delicious."

Stefan tried not to moan as he felt her tongue on his skin, "You have to stop, Kate."

He removed her arms from around his neck and put a distance between them. Stefan was breathing heavily, trying not to look at Kate.

"It's lust. A vampire can smell certain feelings," He explained with his eyes closed. If he looked at her he didn't knew if he could control himself.

Kate watched Stefan with fascination, "So, I can smell lust. I remember smelling fear, but lust smells so much better."

Kate bit down on her lower lip trying not to smirk. It had been Stefan's lust she smelled and she couldn't stop the butterflies in her stomach from fluttering. Because this meant that Stefan felt more than just friendship.

"I think I should go. I am meeting Caroline at the Grill," Kate informed Stefan and left.

Stefan only nodded and followed her with his eyes. He didn't understand what she was doing to him and he wasn't sure if he liked it or hated it.

* * *

Kate entered the Grill and saw her best friend sitting at a table. To Kate's bad luck, Damon was there too, sitting at the bar. And to make it all worse, Caroline had seen Damon and was looking at him like she wanted to murder him. Knowing her best friend, Kate was sure that Caroline was already plotting Damon's demise. Kate walked to Caroline's table and sat down in front of her.

"Hey Care," She greeted her friend, who still was watching Damon.

"What is he doing here?" Caroline asked with pure hatred in her voice.

"He lives here, Caroline. You can't forbid him to go to the Grill only because you hate him," Kate reasoned, "Just ignore him, if you give him the attention he will become cocky."

Only for her ears audible she could hear Damon laughing, he was listening into their conversation.

"You're right, but I just can't stand him," Caroline stopped looking at Damon and gave Kate a bag, "Your costume."

Kate rolled her eyes, "I hate you for this so much."

"I know. Next year you can chose your costume yourself," Caroline offered.

"Does choosing a costume myself means that you'll stand next to me, telling me what I should pick?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You can also go naked if you prefer that," Caroline told her and took a sip out of the water that stood in front of her.

"No, I am fine with the costume," Kate sighed.

Caroline suddenly had a sly grin on her lips and raised her eyebrow, "Now, tell me all about the guy."

Kate groaned, "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Is it Stefan?" Caroline asked without thinking.

"No, it isn't Stefan," Kate answered.

Caroline nodded still smirking, "How far did you go?"

"Only kissing," Kate said, "Your call interrupted us."

"And I apologize for that. Kate is about to have sex again and I interrupt her," Caroline giggled, "How was it? Was it good?"

Ignoring that the guy she kissed was listening into the conversation, Kate let out a laugh, "Yes, it was."

"Come on, Kate. Give me more details. Do I know him?" Caroline lent over the table.

Kate only smirked, "Not going to tell you."

Caroline groaned, "Oh, please, Kate. I lack a love life ever since Damon. Let me take part in yours."

Kate only shook her head. Caroline put her face in her hands in frustration.

"Can I ask you a question, Care?" Kate asked. Something had been bothering for a while and now was a good time to ask.

"Fine, but one day you have to tell me about this guy."  
"It's a promise. Now to my question. When you were with Damon why did you suddenly hated me?"

Caroline looked surprised. She hadn't expected Kate to ask her this.

Caroline sighed, "I was jealous."  
"Jealous?" Kate was confused now.

"You know that it is always Elena. Matt chose her and Stefan chose her. But with Damon it was different. It was you," Caroline explained.

"Me?"

"Wow, you don't see it. Do you?" Caroline shook her head, not believing that the all-knowing Kate didn't see it.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Kate's eyes wandered shortly to Damon, who was still sitting at the bar.

"He only has eyes for you. Every time you are in a room he has only eyes for you and when we talked it was all about you," Caroline told her.

"Care, I don't…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

Annoyed, Caroline interrupted her best friend, "Oh my god, Kate. He is in love with you."

"What?" Kate couldn't believe her. Yes, she admitted that she thought that Damon might care for her, but him being in love with her didn't even cross her mind.

Wanting to know if Caroline was right, she looked towards Damon. He was completely stiff. He didn't move. Kate knew that he had heard the whole conversation. What would she give to know what he was thinking at the moment?

Kate turned back towards Caroline, "You must be wrong. He is still to hung up on his ex-girlfriend."

"I might be blonde, Kate, but I know how a guy looks at a girl if he is in love with her. He is in love with you. Not that I like that, but it is good to know that he has a heart," Caroline huffed.

Kate shook her head once again, "You're wrong."

"No, I am not. Everything points towards that. He is constantly watching you and if half the things Elena says are true he is constantly invading your personal space. And I bet there are even more signs," Caroline wasn't going to change her opinion.

Kate bit her lower lip. Everything the blonde had pointed out made it seem like Damon was in love with her, but that was impossible. So, if it was impossible why did she suddenly felt a rush of happiness running through her?

"Oh my god," Caroline whispered, realising something, "You like him. You like Damon. How could you like him?"

"Caroline, I…" Kate closed her mouth realizing that she couldn't lie to Caroline, "I care about him."

"After everything he put me through you care about him," Caroline snapped, "I thought our friendship meant more to you."

"Caroline, please. I…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Don't. I would understand Stefan or Matt. Hell, I would even understand Tyler, but Damon. He is the bad guy," Caroline spat.

She stood up and grabbed her bag, "The moment you realize what an ass he is, don't come crying to me."

Caroline left, not even looking at her best friend. Kate let out a sigh and sank back in her seat. She didn't really believe what just had happened. Her eyes glued to the place Caroline had just been sitting. Kate just lost her best friend.

Kate felt someone sit down next to her. She didn't look who it was, because she already knew who it was. A hand brushed her curls over her shoulder exposing her neck. A kiss was placed on her shoulder. Kate turned her head and looked into Damon's eyes. He slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. She didn't stop him.

"I'm hungry," Kate said, not wanting to talk about what Caroline had revealed.

"Then lets go," He took her hand in his and stood up taking her with him.

"Wait my costume," She grabbed the bag with her costume.

Damon eyed the bag in amusement, "As what are you going?"

"Not important," Kate said.

"That embarrassing?" Damon smirked and took the bag from Kate.

"Damon give it back," Kate tried to take the bag back, but he had already seen what was in the bag.

"A witch?" He tried not to laugh.

Kate took the bag back, "Caroline chose it, not me. Can we eat now?"

"Fine," He turned her around so that her back was against his chest. "Do you see that girl over there, that is going to the restrooms?"

Kate saw a young girl with brown hair going into the restrooms. She was sure that she had seen this girl in school before. Kate nodded her head.

"Good. Follow her and compel her. Then you can feed from her, but be careful," He whispered in her ear.

Kate gave him her bag and followed the girl in the restroom. The girl was washing her hand. She got startled as she suddenly saw Kate behind her.

She put a hand over her chest and turned toward Kate, "Oh my god. You scared me."

"Happens," Kate drawled with a smirk and started to compel the girl, "You won't scream or move. Do you understand?"

"Yes," The girl answered.

The next second, Kate bit down on her neck. Tasting the blood felt so good, finally satisfying her hunger. As the blood touched her tongue all her problems were gone. She didn't want to think and bit down harder. A groan of pain came out of the girl's mouth. Kate felt the familiar rush of power, as the girl in her arms grew weaker. She knew that she had to stop, but she didn't wanted to. The blood was making her forget her fight with Caroline, her growing feelings for both Salvatores and foremost her memory loss. She wanted to know who she was; she wanted one flicker of a memory from her old life. Something so that she wouldn't go completely insane.

A pair of hands took her by the waist, pulling her away from her victim. Kate let out a growl, as she suddenly wasn't able to drink more blood. Damon restrained her against the wall. His body pressed against hers, making it impossible for her to move. He removed his hands from her waist and cupped her face instead, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks. As Kate looked into his eyes, she realized what she had been about to do.

"I lost control again," She whispered and closed her eyes, ashamed of herself.

"Anger, hunger and young vampire don't mix well," Damon said.

Kate sighed and opened her eyes again, "I'll compel her."

"You might want to feed her your blood. If someone of the council sees her they might get suspicious," He suggested her, brushing a curl behind her ear.

"Are they onto us?" Kate asked. She had a very bad feeling about the council.

"We are lucky. They only think that it is one vampire and they have no idea who it could be. As long as we keep our tracks covered we are safe," He explained. Kate nodded, but she couldn't get rid of the bad feeling. Something told her that the council would become a problem again.

As she tried to move so that she could compel the girl, she realized that Damon didn't want to move.

Tilting her head up to look him in the eye, Kate said, "If I have to feed her my blood and compel her, you need to let me go."

Kate looked at him. What Caroline had said earlier didn't leave her mind. Damon couldn't be in love with her. Because with this thought in the back of her mind everything he did had a different meaning. She didn't understand why. Caroline might believe that Kate was in love with Damon, but she didn't. She cared for him, nothing more. She had feelings for Stefan, and now that she knew that these feelings probably weren't as unreturned as she thought, she felt happy. A tingling feeling spread through her, but then there was Damon. At times she couldn't stand him, and other times she loved being around him. As sweet and kind Stefan was, she was always afraid of what he would think of her if she let herself enjoy acting like a real vampire. Because that was it, she loved being a vampire. Every time she sank her teeth in a human she had enjoyed it. And deep inside her, Kate wanted to do worse. With Damon she didn't have to worry that he would judge her. He would most likely join her.

Damon took a step backwards, taking the young vampire with him. One of his fingers brushed over her chin, covering it in the blood that was dripping from her lips over her chin and down to her throat. Kate was a messy eater, he realized and he didn't mind it one bit. She looked beautiful when she let herself go. Without realizing it herself, Kate Gilbert managed it to look beautiful in whatever she did, even if her mouth was covered in blood. Damon shook his head. It sounded like he actually cared about Kate. He didn't. She only reminded him of Katherine, nothing more.

He let go of Kate, catching the girl by surprise, "I'll do it. Clean yourself."

Kate raised an eyebrow. She probably would never understand what was going on in Damon's head. Instead of cleaning herself, she eyed Damon as he gave the girl his blood to drink and compelled her. Kate lent back against the wall. An unusual feeling of pride ran through her body at the sight of Damon compelling the girl. But that was overshadowed by her jealousy that she could drink his blood. It was insane that Kate was jealous because of that and she couldn't really explain why.

As the girl left, Damon turned around again only to see that Kate still had blood dripping down her chin, while she looked at the leaving girl like she wanted to kill her.

"Weren't you supposed to clean the blood from your face?" Damon asked Kate.

Hearing Damon's voice, Kate locked her eyes with his, "Why? Does the blood bother you, Damon?" Kate tilted her head to the side and a smirk was on her lips.

"We both know it doesn't," While he was talking Kate stepped closer, "But the council knows that there is a vampire out there and what do you think they will do if they see you with all the blood around your mouth?"

Kate stood right in front of him, letting her hands rest on his chest and her eyes locked with his. She could spend hours looking in his blue eyes, trying to find out every little secret behind them.

"Killing me," Kate answered his question. She saw his eyes lowering to her lips.

"Exactly," He breathed out.

Her hand slid up the back of his neck slowly and sensually, the tips of her fingers sliding into his dark hair in the process. The other slid up to his shoulder. She tipped her head back a bit, bringing her lips closer to his.

"Are you afraid that I can't defend myself?" She asked softly, her lips barely touching his.

Damon didn't answer her. He could already taste the blood that covered her lips. Intoxicating him with the mixture of her lemony ginger scent. One of his hands was put on her hip, while the other slid over her arm and came to a rest on her cheek. Kate was waiting for him to pull away like he had done the other times, but he didn't. He pressed his lips gently against hers.

Kate ran her tongue over his lower lip, asking for entrance that Damon granted her. As her tongue touched his, Damon could taste the blood and let out a moan. Kate let out a yelp as Damon grabbed behind her thighs, lifting her from the ground and pinned her against the wall with her legs wrapped around him. He bit down on her lower lip, before he let go of her lips to lick the blood from her chin and throat. Kate arced her back and let out a moan as she felt his tongue on her throat. Her fingers ran through his hair.

Suddenly Kate could hear steps coming towards the restroom. She groaned in annoyance, she didn't want to stop this. Which they would have to if the person came in here. But Damon surprised her. His lips were back on hers, his tongue invading her mouth. Her feet were back on the floor. There was no room between their bodies. The door of the restroom opened and a girl stepped inside. She let out a shriek, started to apologize and left again.

As the door fell close again, Kate turned them around, pinning Damon against the wall instead. And suddenly Kate broke the kiss, leaving Damon breathless. With a smirk on her face, Kate turned around and walked to the sinks. With a tissue she wiped away the blood. Grapping the bag with her costume in it, Kate left the restroom without looking at Damon.

"Till another time, Damon," Kate said as she left, smirking.

She did mention that she loved teasing, right?

* * *

Elena was sitting on her bed with her diary in her lap. She didn't know what she should write. Although she knew that everything Stefan had told her was true, a part of her didn't want to believe that vampires were real. She wanted nothing more than hide in her bed and cry. Never had she seen herself as strong. It wasn't a surprise that Kate could deal with it and that not only because she was a vampire. Kate always seemed stronger, even though she was five minutes younger than herself. She envied her sister for her strength. Elena didn't know if she could live like Kate did without any memories of her life.

"Don't know what you should write?" Elena heard someone say.

Looking up startled, Elena saw her twin sister sitting in front of her on her bed. Elena put a hand over her heart, feeling it beating in a fast pace, "Do you have to scare me like this?"

Kate let out a laugh and laid down next to Elena, "I am sorry, but it was just to tempting."

Elena shook her head, a small smile on her face. It disappeared again as Elena remembered what was going on in her life. She let out a sigh.

Kate turned her head, eying her sister with concern, "Are you alright, Elena?"

"Honestly, I am not," Elena put her diary away and laid down, "I knew that Stefan had a secret, but I never thought that it would be that. It is just hard to understand. How did you find out?"

"Do you remember the night Tanner was killed?" Kate asked and Elena nodded, "Well, I saw Damon killing him. I didn't want to believe what had happened, but later that night I went to Stefan and he explained everything."

Kate rolled around, so that she was lying on her side, facing Elena, "He is still the same guy, Elena. Okay, I admit he is 164 years older than you thought, but he is still Stefan."

"I know, but I don't know if I can…" Elena couldn't finish her sentence, not knowing what she should say.

"You're afraid. Aren't you?" Kate asked.

Elena sighed and nodded, "I know that Stefan is still Stefan, but I am afraid. You are already a vampire and what happens if more people get turned?"

"Neither Stefan nor Damon had anything to do with me getting turned into a vampire," Kate explained and sat up again.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, sitting up too.

Kate let out a sigh; "I don't remember how I got vampire blood in my system or how I died. I woke up in the bathroom of the Lockwood mansion with Camilla Grant hovering over me."  
"Wait, the librarian?"

"Yep. She was also the one who gave me a drink. She could have easily slipped a few drops of vampire blood in my glass," Kate explained.

"Does this mean that she is vampire?" Elena asked. She didn't know much of Camilla, only that she was the librarian and that she was the daughter of Dr Grant. Jenna sometimes hung out with her.

"I don't think so. Her father wasn't one. He was human," Kate shook her head, "I think they wanted to turn me."

"What? Why?"

"When I was with Dr Grant, still transitioning, he cut himself on a piece of paper. I could smell the blood and he gave me it. He stretched out his hand and let me drink from him," Kate looked into Elena's eyes, realizing something, "I think he knew that I would kill him. He knew what would happen, but I don't understand why they did it in the first place."

Not even asking for permission, Elena embraced her sister. After a few seconds, Kate put her arms around Elena. She liked this. Her sister felt so warm.

"We will find out why," Elena promised, "Together."

"Thank you, Elena."

Elena knew this might be the wrong time to ask Kate about the nature of her relationship with Damon. Although her sister was a vampire now and could protect herself, Elena was still concerned about her and she didn't trust Damon.

"I know this might be the wrong time, but can I ask you again what is between you and Damon?" Elena asked cautious. After Vicki had attacked her she didn't feel like angering another vampire.

Kate sighed and pulled out of her sister's embrace, "Right, Damon. Caroline thinks that he is in love with me."

"Oh," was Elena's answer.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "That's your answer? 'Oh'."

"It makes sense," Elena said.

"In what way does that make sense? He might care for me a tiny bit, but being in love is huge," Kate huffed and continued sad, "And to make everything worse Caroline thinks that I am in love with him. She hates me."

Elena bit her lower lip, contemplating what she should say next, "She does have a point."

Kate looked at her questionably and with a sigh Elena explained, "I saw you this morning. You and Damon seemed pretty cosy and then there is the constant eye contact and the sexual tension. He affects you and I have the feeling that you don't mind it, like after you spent the whole morning with Damon. That scares me."

Kate avoided looking her sister in the eyes and confessed something to her, "We kissed."

"You and Damon kissed?" Kate nodded at her sister's question, "When?"

"The first time was when we spent the whole morning together and then just earlier in the Grill," She looked up again, "But I don't regret it, Elena."

Elena tried her best not to let her sister's confession affect her, "Maybe you don't regret it, because you have feelings for Damon."

"I don't have feelings for Damon," Kate denied, "Yes, I care about him, but I have no feelings for him. And the least of all am I in love with him. That would be wrong."

Elena shook her head and closed her eyes. She thought that she knew why Kate denied having feelings for Damon and she couldn't believe what she was about to say, "If you have feelings for him you can admit them. You don't have to hide them just because you think that I'll judge you or anyone else."

"I don't love him, Elena," Kate stayed stubborn, "I care about him and I might be attracted to him sexually, but that is it."

Elena shook her head again. It was hopeless to talk with Kate about anything related with feelings. It was like there was a wall around her heart stopping the girl from wanting to feel anything. Instead Elena asked for help to put together a Halloween costume and Kate gladly obliged. But Elena knew that the whole thing with Damon wasn't over yet.

* * *

"I feel ridiculous in this costume," Kate whined and pulled on her dress. She looked hot in it, the whistling from the boys she walked passed confirmed it, but she still felt ridiculous. The dress alone was okay, but the hat was horrible.

"Stop it. We are here to have fun," Elena reasoned. She was walking between her sister and her brother. Jeremy only rolled his eyes at Kate's behaviour.

"I have enough of this. I'll go," He grumbled and walked away.

"Where to?" Kate called after him. The response she got was a middle finger.

Kate growled, "One day I'll bet the grab out of him."

"He is our brother, Kate," Elena once again being the voice of reason.

Kate rolled her eyes, "That excuse won't work forever for that little brat."

Elena only shook her head with a smile on her face and looked around to find their friends. She saw Tyler Lockwood approaching them. He was dressed like a Spartan warrior. That didn't surprise Elena in the slightest.

"A witch and a nurse," He commented, "Did you ever thought about buying matching costumes?"

Kate looked at him with a sly smirk and drawled seductively, "Actually I told Elena would could go naked, but she refused. Though the me being naked part can be arranged."

Her index finger brushed over Tyler's bare chest and she stepped closer, invading his personal space, "But for that I will need a lot of alcohol." Kate's voice was low and seductive.

Still with her smirk on her lips, Kate moved backwards and looked at Elena again. Her smirk disappeared and it was like Tyler didn't exist.

"Come on, Elena. Let's go find Bonnie or Matt," She said and hooked her arm with Elena's. Tyler was left standing behind with his mouth open and a very vivid fantasy involving Kate.

Kate started to giggle as her and Elena were away from Tyler. Elena couldn't hold her own laughter back. Their laughter was interrupted by the sight of a familiar person. Elena was the first one who saw her.

She stopped her sister and pointed at the retreating figure, "Isn't that Camilla?"

Kate looked to where her sister pointed and indeed she saw Camilla disappearing inside the school building. With one glance at her sister for reassurance, Kate followed Camilla with her twin behind her. Elena wasn't going to let Kate do this alone. If Camilla had something to do with Kate behind turned into a vampire than Elena wanted to know this. And if the news were shuttering then she wanted to be there for Kate.

The twins followed Camilla inside the school building. They pushed through the crowd of dressed students. Kate forced herself not to growl, slap or bite some of the idiots who jumped in front of her trying to scare her. Finally, Camilla disappeared inside the library.

"Well, she is the librarian," Elena whispered.

Kate rolled her eyes and pushed the door open. Camilla didn't let the sound of the door bother her. She continued to sort out the books, not looking up. The twins shared a confused glance.

"I knew that you would come," Camilla said, not looking up from her work.

"Did you now?" Kate spat, with one of her hands placed on her hip.

Camilla looked up from her work, "Naturally, one day you would put together the pieces, but I am rather surprised that it took you so long. I thought you were smart, Katherine."

Kate couldn't believe how Camilla talked with her, "Okay, first I was busy with other things and second I prefer Kate."

"Yeah, exactly," Camilla put the books away and smirked.

Elena decided to interfere before Kate did something she would regret, "From what you say you know what happened with Kate. You and your father turned her."

"Yep," Camilla nodded and faced the twins, "The drink I gave her was laced with vampire blood."

"Are you one?" Elena asked, before Kate could threaten the librarian.

Camilla let out a laugh and shook her head, "No, I am not a vampire. I'm a witch."

Elena's mouth fell open and so did Kate's. Now, she did even felt more ridiculous in her costume. She was dressed like a witch while a real life witch stood right in front of her. She took of her silly hat and threw it in the trashcan.

"We shouldn't be surprised. Bonnie is constantly talking about it," Kate said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, but we never believed her. We even made fun of it," Elena said, still not fully believing that Camilla was a witch, " But that still doesn't explain why you wanted Kate turned."

Camilla let out a sigh, "You two have to promise me that this will stay between us. I don't want either one of you running to the Salvatores. Do you understand?"

Kate and Elena nodded, neither one of them had planned to tell Damon or Stefan something about this.

"Fine, then. Actually we wanted to wait it wasn't planned to be so early, but we had to speed up our plan, because you were in danger Kate and so were you Elena," Camilla explained, pain written over her face.

"Danger?" Kate asked.

"There is a vampire named Alec. He hates one of your ancestors. From what I know this ancestor turned him, killed his wife and separated him from his daughter. He hates her and wants to hurt her."

"By killing us," Kate concluded.

"In a way," Camilla run her fingers through her hair, "I wish I could explain you the whole story, but I can't. You don't know yet and you, Kate, don't have your memories."

"Is this why you tried to turn her, so that she could get her memories back?" Elena questioned.

Camilla gave her an angry glare, "Don't judge me. I wanted her to give her memories back without having to turn her into a vampire. She was my friend once and it is now my responsibility because I am the only one left."

"Why?" Kate asked, ignoring the comment about her and Camilla being friends.

Camilla lowered her gaze, "You lost your memories, because my mother erased them."

"What?" Both, Elena and Kate exclaimed.

"What did I do to your mother?" Kate asked angry.

"I can't tell you, but when you remember you will know why," Camilla turned around and wanted to leave.

"Wait," Elena stopped her, "If you are a witch. Can't you undo your mother's spell?"

Camilla turned around and shook her head, "No, my mother might be weakened, but the spell can't be broken by a witch. It has to come from Kate and it shouldn't be that hard. Her subconscious still knows," She looked at Kate, "Feeling, instinct and impulses. You follow them without realising it. Some are stronger than other, but they are there."

With a smile on her face, Camilla watched the confused twins. She walked to her desk, opened a drawer and took something out of it, "I want to give you something, Katherine."

Kate eyed Camilla, "It's Kate."

"Right," Camilla sounded like she didn't even care and threw something at Kate, "It belonged to an old friend of mine."

Kate caught it and looked at the object in her hand. It was a necklace. The pendant on the silver necklace was a small blue stone, resembling the one on her bracelet.

"It's beautiful," Elena breathed out, watching the necklace in astonishment.

"Yeah, it is," Kate agreed and looked at Camilla, "Why would you give me something like this?"

Camilla had a secretive smile on her face, "It belonged to your ancestor who obviously is a vampire and it is a daylight necklace. It will protect you from the sun. I know that you already have a bracelet, but as a girl it is never wrong to have more than one piece of jewellery to protect you."

"Thank you, but I have one more question. Who's blood did you give me?" Kate asked.

"Your ancestor's," With that Camilla left the twins alone. She had said enough. In time, Kate would find out the secrets on her own.

Elena and Kate looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Camilla gave them a few answers, but also raised questions. One was, who was this vampire ancestor? And another was, what would this Alec guy do to them?

"Maybe we should go join the rest of the school?" Kate suggested.

"Yeah. I don't want to think about an insane vampire wanting us dead, but first let me put on your necklace," Elena took the necklace and waited that Kate turned around.

With a smile on her face, Kate turned around and lifted her hair up. Her twin put the necklace around her neck and clasped it. Kate let her hair fall down again and turned around.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"It suits you and I am a bit jealous."  
"You have the vervain necklace that Stefan gave you to protect you from compulsion, but more it is a sign of his love for you."

"Are trying to get me and Stefan back together?" Elena asked.

Kate played innocent and asked, "I missed the announcement that you two weren't together anymore."

Elena sighed, "Let's go join the others."

"I'll let it pass this time," Kate said.

Elena and Kate left the library, joining the rest of the students to celebrate Halloween. They ran into Matt, but before they could start a conversation Kate's phone rang.

"I'm sorry. It's my phone," Kate apologized and took her phone. Because of the lack of pockets, she had hidden the phone in her bra. She stepped away from Matt and Elena and looked who was calling her. It was Stefan.

Without thinking longer, Kate picked up, "Hey Stefan. What is it?"  
"We have a problem," He said.

"When don't we?" She asked sarcastically, "What happened?"  
"Vicki ran off."

"I thought that you didn't want her to leave the house."

"I know, but Damon came home and decided to show her how fast a vampire is and she ran off."

"That isn't good," Kate realized something, "Damn it. She is here."  
"Where?" Stefan asked.

"At school. Jeremy is here. We have to find her."  
"I know. I'll be there in a minute."  
"Good. I'll look for her," She hung up and turned her attention back to Matt and Elena.

Elena ran away desperately, trying to find Jeremy. Seems like Vicki really was here. Not even looking at Matt, Kate went to search for Vicki. It was harder than she thought. The noise made it impossible for her to hear Vicki, so she used her nose. Another bad thing was that she didn't smell Vicki all the times they had been together, but she tried it anyway.

It was pure luck that the young vampire ran right into her arms. Vicki tried to run as she realized who stood in front of her. Kate gave her a cruel smirk, grabbed her by her arm and threw her into a classroom. Vicki crashed into the desk.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked, walking up to Vicki.

"That is none of your business, bitch," Vicki spat and tried to stand up.

Kate put a foot on her chest, keeping her down, "Yes, it is. I turned you and it is my brother. So, I make it my business."

"Please," Vicki begged, "I want to see him."

"You can see him," Hope flickered in Vicki's eyes, "When you learned to control yourself."

Vicki growled and tried to get up. Kate's food stopped her. The only thing that changed was that now the heel of Kate's shoe was rammed in the younger vampire's chest. Vicki groaned in pain.

"You own fault. I am stronger and I want to help you," Kate tried to explain to her, this time in a soft voice, "I know that you want to see Jeremy. But you are a vampire now, Vicki. He just needs to bleed or his heart beats faster and you feel the hunger rising. You'll hurt him."  
"No, I would never hurt Jeremy," Vicki whined.

"I know that you believe that," Kate took her heel out of her chest and kneeled down next to Vicki, "But what if you do. Could you forgive yourself killing the person who loved you despite everything? Don't you want to make sure that he is safe with you? I know that you love him, Vicki. As I know that he loves you. Don't do this for me or for Elena, but for Jeremy. So, that if you are with him you won't have to fear to lose control. Will you let me and Stefan help you?"

Kate stood up and held her hand out, waiting for Vicki to take it. Vicki eyed the brunette in confusion. She didn't understand Kate, but what she had said got her thinking. Maybe Kate was right. Vicki took Kate's hand and stood up.

Kate smirked and said, "Should we take her back to the boarding house, Stefan?"

Vicki looked behind Kate and saw Stefan standing there. She asked herself how long he had been here.

"Yeah, let's go," He said.

The three left the classroom. Kate was holding Vicki's arm, not trusting her not to run. Just because Vicki agreed to go with them that didn't mean that she would just let her run off like that. Suddenly Elena ran towards them. She felt relieved as she saw Vicki with Kate and Stefan. That meant that Vicki hadn't found Jeremy.

"Thank God," Elena said, the relief clear in her voice.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked her.

"I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried," Elena explained.

Kate eyed the pair in front of her. It was obvious that Elena and Stefan were deeply in love with each other, but the whole vampire business was a problem. Elena didn't know if she could still trust Stefan.

Kate decided to leave the two alone, "Well, you two can go and find Jeremy. While I'll bring Vicki home."

But before Kate could leave, Matt came towards them. He saw his sister and the tight grip Kate had on his sister's arm. The teenager had no idea what was going on.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking at the four people in front of him.

Kate had a very bad feeling and she was right. Vicki freed herself from her grip, "I told you to quit bothering me."

Vicki used Matt appearance to her advantage. She turned to her brother, "Matt, they won't leave me alone."

She pointed at Stefan and Kate. Kate glared at Vicki. Several different scenarios of how she would kill Vicki was running through her mind and she liked every single one of them.

"You need to back off," Matt said.

"Wow, Vicki. You truly are pathetic," Kate ignored Matt, her eyes on Vicki, "Your little brother has to defend you. Can't you do that yourself?"

Elena and Matt were shocked at Kate's words. Matt had known that the younger half of the Gilbert twins could be very rude and mean, but he hadn't seen her like that yet.

"Shut up," Vicki snapped. The anger was rising in her and she had to fight the urge to attack Kate. Her fear stopped her. Earlier she had seen that the vampire in front of her was stronger than her.

"That is not helping, Kate," Stefan whispered in Kate's ear. Kate only shrugged her shoulders, her gaze fixed on Vicki.

"Matt, it's okay. They are trying to help," Elena tried to calm Matt down.

Matt glared at her in disbelieve, "How is Kate being rude helping?"

"I tried to be nice, but she doesn't listen," Kate took her eyes of Vicki and snapped at Matt.

Stefan tried to stop a fight, "Stop. It is not going to help anyone if we start fighting."

Kate scuffed and looked for Vicki, realizing that the younger vampire was gone, "That little bitch is gone."

"What? No," Elena exclaimed, looking around for Vicki.

Kate ran away, so that Matt couldn't stop her. She knew where Vicki would go. The young vampire would try to find Jeremy. She was angry, furious even. Should Vicki harm her younger brother, Kate would personally drive a stake through the elder Donovan's heart. Taking a deep breath, Kate stopped her running and closed her eyes. Her focus was on her hearing, ignoring the loud pounding of the music in her ears, trying to find her brother. Vampire hearing was incredibly useful even if she didn't fully know how to use it. The only thing she could do was to trust her instincts. Through the mess of voices, Kate tried to find her brother's or at least Vicki's voice. The faint sound of her brother's voice reached her ear. Kate opened her eyes, following the voice. With every step the vampire took the voices grew stronger. She stopped her steps, as she stood in front of a door that lead out of the school. Listening into the conversation her brother and his girlfriend had while she opened the door without making any noise. Cautiously Kate walked past the buses towards the couple. The conversation the couple was having, bothered Kate. She knew that neither her nor Elena wanted Jeremy to be turned into a vampire and there Vicki was promising him forever. Didn't she realize that forever was a very long time and that Jeremy was only fifteen? Vicki didn't know what it meant being a vampire. She had been one for merely a few days. How could she go around promising Jeremy forever? She couldn't even control herself, how would she be able do deal with a freshly turned vampire?

Kate froze as she was hit with the smell of her brother's blood. Her canines sharped into fangs and veins appeared under her eyes. She hadn't been prepared to smell Jeremy's blood. Her hands formed into fist, trying to control her hunger. Kate knew that if she had problems to control her hunger than so did Vicki. And the girl had worse control than herself. So, she had to control herself and that fast. Kate opened her eyes again as a thought hit her, something Damon had told her. She had to relish in it. Drinking blood meant pleasure. She remembered the time on the cemetery as she had feed from the boy and as she had feed from Vicki. Both times had been pleasurable, but her brother's blood wasn't having this affect on her. She didn't want to feel this way with his blood. He was her brother and it was her job to protect him. Her hunger slowly disappeared. The veins under her eyes disappeared.

Knowing that she didn't have much time left before Vicki snapped, Kate blurred towards the couple. She could hear Jeremy's calling Vicki's name. Vicki was drinking blood from Jeremy's lip. He pushed her away from him. It was then that he saw his sister standing behind Vicki, who was eyeing his girlfriend patronizing. His eyes went back to Vicki, seeing that her face had changed. Fear run through him at the sight of her. Vicki was about to hurl towards him as suddenly with a wisp of air Kate stood in front of him, stopping Vicki. As much as he disliked his sister he felt safer with her.

Kate tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, "This is exactly what I was talking about. One drop of blood and you'll lose it. But do you listen? No, because Vicki Donovan knows best."

Her voice was laced with annoyance. Vicki growled and hurled towards Kate. Her hunger was clouding her mind. She wanted the blood and Kate was in the way. Her hand grabbed Kate's throat, trying to harm the Gilbert girl. Kate shoved Vicki off of her, making the girl crash on the ground. Grunting, Vicki stood up again, once again wanting to attack Kate as she suddenly was hit with another smell.

Elena opened the door and stepped out of the school still looking for her brother and Vicki. The wind made her hair move, carrying her scent to the two fighting vampires. With a wisp of air Vicki stood in front of her. Startled by the sudden appearance, Elena let out a gasp. The sight in front of her was frightening. The white of Vicki's eyes was red, there were veins under her eyes and Elena could spot the fangs in her mouth. Elena didn't know what do to as Vicki growled at her and jumped her. The older teen's teeth were about to sink into her skin as Vicki was thrown off her. Elena saw Kate pinning Vicki against a bus. Relief ran through her at the sight of her twin sister.

Kate restrained Vicki by her arms, using all of her strength to keep the girl from escaping. She turned her head to look at Elena.

"Take Jeremy and go," Kate commanded.

Elena shook her head stubbornly; "I can't leave you here alone with her."

Kate shook her head at her sister's stubbornness, "I can deal with her, but Jeremy is bleeding. As long as she can smell his blood she won't calm down. So, please Elena. Take Jeremy and go home."

Kate looked her sister in the eyes. She admired Elena. Her fear was obvious, but the want to protect her own sister was stronger.

"Trust me, Elena," Kate spoke in a soft voice.

Elena nodded. Even though her sister was a vampire, Elena trusted her. She walked to Jeremy, put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him with her towards the door. Jeremy was fighting at first, but then he gave up, letting his sister pull him away.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Vicki, eyeing her carefully. The younger vampire seemed to be calmer now. So, Kate let go of her. That had been a fault. The moment Vicki felt Kate removing her hands; she disappeared and once again tried to attack Elena. Kate followed her. Out of nowhere Stefan appeared, stopping Vicki's attack by pinning her against the front of a bus. But Vicki freed herself and disappeared.

Stefan looked around, making sure that Elena and Jeremy were okay. He urged them to leave. Suddenly he realized that not only was Vicki gone, but so was Kate. Not having the time to think were Kate could have disappeared to, he started to search for Vicki under the buses.

Elena grabbed Jeremy's hand and ran towards the door. Before she could reach the door Vicki appeared once again and hurled at her. Elena closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of Vicki's bite, but instead she heard a grunt and Jeremy's desperate cries. Opening her eyes, Elena saw Kate standing in front of her with a stake that now was in Vicki's chest. Vicki's skin slowly turned grey.

"I told you so," Kate spoke without any emotion. She took a step back, leaving the stake in Vicki's heart.

Stefan blurred behind Jeremy, holding him back from attacking his sister. Jeremy was screaming insults at Kate, tears streaming down his face as he saw Vicki dropping dead to the floor. Stefan watched Kate. There was no emotion in her eyes while she looked at the grey body of Vicki Donovan. It scared him at bit.

"You little whore," Jeremy screamed.

The word made something in her head click. Her eyes left Vicki's dead body and angry she approached her brother, who was trying to free himself from Stefan's grip.

"Don't ever call me that again," Kate spat, making Jeremy shut up, "She would have killed you and Elena. I stopped her. I did the right thing for both of you. That was the only way I could help her. I had to kill her."

"You're a monster," Jeremy cried.

A cruel smirk appeared on her face, "Whatever you say, Jeremy."

Before Jeremy could start to insult her again, Elena interfered, "Stefan, please. Get him out of here."

Stefan nodded, leading the now quiet Jeremy away from the scene. He took his phone and dialled Damon's number.

Kate looked over her shoulder, seeing the shaking form of her sister. Every cruelty fell of her as she saw how frightened her sister was. She turned around and approached Elena, who was hugging herself like she was afraid to fall apart.

"Elena, are you alright?" Kate asked, touching her sister's cheek.

Elena jumped a bit at the unexpected touch, "I'm fine."

The shaking in her voice gave her away. Elena was far from fine. Carefully, Kate embraced her sister. Elena gladly accepted the embrace, burring her head in the crook of Kate's neck, letting her tears flow freely. Elena was shaking and sobbing in her arms. It broke Kate's heart to see her twin like this. Not bearing the thought of Elena like this, Kate moved away from her sister, taking her face in between her hands, making Elena look into her eyes. Her fingers wandered down to the back of her neck, opening the vervain necklace and removing it from her neck.

Before Elena could complain, Kate started to compel her, "You won't break down. Everything that happened tonight will be hard to accept, but you'll stay strong. There won't be any nightmares about this night. You'll accept what happened with Vicki," Tears were streaming down her face, "The moment I put your necklace back around your neck, you'll forget that I compelled you and you'll go home to take care of Jeremy."

Kate put the necklace back around Elena's neck and removed her hands. Elena woke from the trance, looking at her sister in confusion and shook her head.

"I think I should go home to take care of Jeremy," Elena said.

Kate nodded, "I'll stay here and take care of Vicki."

Giving Kate a small smile, Elena left her twin sister alone. Kate shook her head and wiped away her tears. Guilt was eating her up. She had compelled her sister, something she never thought that she would do. Trying to ignore her guilt, Kate looked at Vicki. A part of her hoped that she would start to feel guilty about what she had done to Vicki, but she didn't.

She could hear someone approaching and the familiar scent of leather, mint and blood hit her nose. It was Damon, walking towards her with his trademark smirk in place. Suddenly anger rose inside her.

"You should go. I got this," He said, looking at the grey body of Vicki Donovan.

Kate knew that he didn't deserve her anger, because it wasn't really his fault, but it was easier to blame him, "This is your fault. You did this."

Damon took his eyes of Vicki, looking at Kate and raised his eyebrows, "You're the one who feed her the blood."

Kate tried to stop the growl form escaping out of her mouth, but it was to late. It was his fault. He had tempted her to feed Vicki her blood and he had been the one to kill Vicki. All this leading to her compelling her sister. And then there was her fight with Caroline. She had lost her best friend because of his infiltration with her. Before she could stop herself, Kate slapped him. The slap echoed through the night. Damon's head was whipped to the side. He was surprised how strong Kate was. His cheek actually hurt. She was about to slap him again as he grabbed her wrist stopping her.

"Don't blame me. It were your choices that lead to Vicki's death, not mine," He snapped and let go of her wrist. He turned away from her, not wanting to see the hate and anger inside her eyes.

Kate knew that he was right. The anger disappeared. She lowered her head; feeling tears run down her face again. She hated to cry. She rarely did it when she had been human, but since her transition she cried every few days. She blamed her heightened senses and feelings for that.

The salty smell of tears reached Damon's nose. He lifted his head, seeing a crying Kate. His tongue ran over his lower lip, while he asked himself what he was supposed to do now. Stefan was the one who know how to deal with a crying teenager, he didn't. Yes, he had comforted her after she had killed a girl, but this was different. Back then she had been afraid what Stefan would think about her killing again. This time was different.

"I'm weak and pathetic," Kate whispered to herself, not wanting anyone to hear her.

But Damon did hear her. With a grunt he gave up. Who was he kidding? This wasn't the first time he comforted her.

Kate felt Damon's arms around her, pulling her against him. Without thinking, Kate took the fabric of his white shirt between her fingers and closed her eyes, resting her forehead against his chest. She could feel Damon's nose in her hair. She would never get used to how comforting his embraces were. It reminded her of the stranger from the park. Suddenly Kate realized something. She lifted her head, looking into Damon's eyes.

"It was you," The words were barely a whisper, but Damon heard them.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he had no idea what she was talking about.

"The stranger from the park. It was you, " She was still whispering, "After the bonfire it was you who comforted me while I was crying."

Now, he knew what she was talking about, but instead of talking with her about it he pulled out of their embrace. Leaving Kate in confusion.

"Why don't you head home, while I take care of Vicki," He said, acting like nothing had happened.

Kate scoffed in disbelieve. He did it again. Every time someone voiced the thought of him having feelings he ignored it, running away from his feelings. She hated it, but foremost she was annoyed.

"Why does the thought that you actually care about something, scare you so much, Damon?" Kate asked, doing her best not to let him hear her how annoyed she was by his behaviour.

Damon ignored her question, "Go home, Kat."

"No. Not till you answer my question," Kate stayed stubborn.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Fine, then stay here, but I'm out of here."

He took Vicki's body, throwing it over his shoulder and left. He didn't turned around to look at Kate. Kate was left behind, feeling hurt with Caroline's words ringing in her head.

* * *

Kate walked up to her house, seeing Stefan sitting on her front porch.

"Are they…" Kate couldn't finish her question.

"Elena and Jeremy are inside," He told her, watching her carefully.

Kate nodded, diverting her eyes from Stefan, looking at the floor. There was a tension between them. Stefan stood up and approached the brunette. His fingers brushed over her jaw, making her raise her head to look into his eyes again.

"Are you alright, Kate?" He asked, letting his hand rest against her cheek.

Kate gave him a small smile, "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, Stefan."

"But I do, Kate," Stefan said, desperation in his voice, "I care about you, more than I should."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows at his confession and shook her head, "We shouldn't do this."

"Do what?" Stefan asked in confusion.

"Being friends," She answered sadly.

Stefan's hand dropped from her cheek, "What?"

"We can't be friends, Stefan. Not if we are so close on the edge of falling in love with each other," Her voice was full of sadness, but this was the right thing to do.

"Kate don't do this," Stefan begged full of hurt.

Kate smiled at him sadly, "It is the right thing to do. I have feelings for you and judging by your reactions you feel something for me too, but you love Elena. If we continue to be friends then you'll start to fall for me and I can't do this to Elena. She means too much to me for me to lose her because of a guy. I'm sorry, Stefan."

"Is this because of your feelings for Damon," He asked, not able to hide his hurt.

"This has nothing to do with Damon," Kate said and walked inside the house.

It hurt losing not only Caroline, but also Stefan as a friend in one day. She knew that it had been the right thing to do, but it didn't hurt any less. Maybe one day they could be friends again. But there was also something else, what Stefan had said about her feelings for Damon didn't leave her mind. Caroline, Elena and Stefan had told her that she had feelings for Damon. Three people who were close to her. Could they be right?

Kate shook her head, not wanting to think about that. She entered her room, closing the door behind her and took off her costume. It was thrown on the chair by her desk. Grabbing her pj's, Kate disappeared in her bathroom to remove her make up and to shower. Her thoughts were with two certain brothers, while the warm water was running down her body.

As Kate emerged from her bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in her shorts and a tank top, she saw Damon lying on her bed. That was a surprise.

"What do you want?" Kate asked harshly.

Damon eyed her with a raised eyebrow, "I compelled Jeremy to forget what happened tonight. It was your sister's idea. Before you start to blame me."

Kate let out a sigh. She wouldn't judge. After all she had compelled her own sister earlier. Kate walked to her bed and slipped under her sheets, resting her head on her pillow. She was aware that Damon's eyes followed her every move.

"If you want to stay in my bed, take of your shoes and the leather jacket. It's more comfortable this way," Kate said, her eyes locking with Damon's.

Damon thought that she would kick him out, not giving him the choice to stay if he wanted to. Not one to pass on an opportunity like that, Damon removed his shoes and his leather jacket and slipped under the sheets to Kate. His surprise grew bigger as he felt her moving closer to him, putting her head on his chest. His body went stiff at her sudden closeness. He didn't understand this girl. After hearing a giggle coming from her, he started to relax, holding her to him.

"Kath," Kate suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"Mm?"

Kate lifted her head, looking into Damon's blue eyes with a smile on her face, "You refuse to call me Kate and because I actually like my full name Katherine, but hate Kat and Katie. You can call me Kath. That name is far away from Kate or Katie and it doesn't sound like cat."

"I like that, Kath," Damon said, testing out the new nickname on his tongue, giving her a small smile.

With another giggle, Kate put her head back on his chest, closing her eyes.

* * *

**End of the chapter and somethings happened. What did you thought and what do you want to happen? Don't be shy and review it. **

**xoxo Lynn  
**


	9. 162 Candles

**I apologize that it took me so long to finish this chapter, but after all the things that just happened on the Vampire Diaries I kind of lost inspiration to write. They killed off one of my fav characters and that in the most stupid way ever. How can an 18 year old baby vampire and a 16 year old hunter kill a thousand year old original vampire? **

**Whatever, let's come to the results of the poll.**

**1. Damon**

**2. Stefan**

**3. Klaus**

**4. Kol, Tyler**

**5. Elijah, Matt, Alaric, Caroline, Bonnie, Rebekah**

**Seems like Damon won, but that doesn't mean that I'll let Kate end up with Damon. The pairing can still change, but I always love to hear why you would prefer Kate with someone.**

**Now, I'll like to thank all of you for reviewing this story. I never thought that PETROVA would be liked so much and thank you for sticking around, even though I need a while to upload a new chapter.**

**Love you, guys.**

* * *

**PETROVA**

**162 Candles**

"_We can't be friends, Stefan. Not if we are so close on the edge of falling in love with each other"_

Stefan was pacing through his room with Kate's words running through his mind. He didn't understand what she meant with that. Kate was his friend, if not his best friend. He cared for her, but he would never fall in love with her. Not only because he loved Elena, but also because Kate was about to wake the ripper inside him. Stefan knew that his brother was helping Kate to learn how to feed from humans and he hated it. He hated that he couldn't be the one to teach her this; that it was Damon who was allowed to be with her. Stefan ran a hand through his hair in frustration, he was jealous as much as he didn't want to admit it. The ripper in him was screaming to be let out, willing to satisfy Kate's need for blood. Stefan forced the ripper away. He wasn't going to lose control. Kate was a young vampire and the ripper couldn't teach her control. Suddenly he heard a pair of footsteps behind him and the familiar lemony ginger scent reached his nose.

"Kate," He breathed out, closing his eyes. He didn't turn around, seeing Kate would only let him lose the control over the ripper. He heard her walking around him, stopping in front of him.

"Open your eyes, Stefan," Kate whispered, her hands brushing over his cheeks.

He opened his eyes, taking in her attire. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top; her feet were bare. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes wandering over her body. He assumed that she must have been sleeping, before she came here.

"Why are you here, Kate?" Stefan forced himself to ask.

Kate tilted her head to the side, letting her fingers move over his jaw and whispered, "I want to tell you the truth."

Stefan's eyes locked with Kate's. The younger vampire stepped closer, their chests touching. Stefan's hands formed into fists, trying to resist the temptation to touch her. Her sinful caresses on his skin and her intoxicating scent was clouding his mind, feeding the ripper inside him.

"It's not because of Elena, that we can't stay friend, but because I want more," She whispered, her lips against his ear. A growl fell from Stefan's lips.

"I want you, Stefan," She whispered into his ear and licked over the shell.

With another growl, Stefan's hands were on her waist, pulling her against him. He could hear the girl in his arms giggle. How much he loved her laugh. Her hands were on the back of his neck, her fingers slowly slipping into his hair. Grabbing the hair roughly with a strength he didn't knew she had to pull his head back, with her lips suddenly on his throat, biting and licking his skin. Stefan knew that he should stop her, but he couldn't. Every fiber of his body was screaming to take her, to make Kate his. It was like an undeniable primal urge. He needed her, now.

A moan left his lips as he felt her fangs scratching over his skin. Not wasting another second, Stefan's hand lowered to her thighs, wrapping her legs around his waist. The next second he had the younger vampire pressed against a wall. Kate let out a moan as her back touched the wall. Stefan saw her moving her head away from his throat. Their eyes met, seeing the desire in the eyes of the other.

He crashed his lips down on hers. His hands disappeared under her top, touching the soft skin of her stomach. As Kate moaned, he stuck his tongue inside her mouth. Elena was the farthest thing from his mind. He didn't care that it was her twin sister he had pinned against the wall. He didn't even care that Kate was the only person able to bring out glances of Damon's humanity. There was only her soft skin and her lemony ginger scent.

Kate ran her fingers through his soft hair, messing it up. She let go of his hair and started to tug on his shirt, trying to remove it. Instead she ripped it off and threw the shirt away, letting her hand roam over his naked chest. She drew her teeth over his lower lip, receiving a growl from Stefan. Stefan's hands slid up to her hips, lifting her top. Kate broke the kiss, so that he could pull her top over her head. Her top was thrown on the floor and Stefan crashed his lips back on hers.

He wasn't thinking only feeling with Kate this close to him. Using his vampire speed, Stefan pushed her down on his bed. It wasn't the first time Kate had been lying on his bed. After she had been freshly turned, Kate had sleep in his bed and at night she unconsciously started to hold him, waking him up every time. This was different. Kate was moaning and rubbing herself against him, pulling him deeper in the lust he felt for her. Her hands moved over his back, her fingernails drawing blood. Stefan's lips left Kate's and made their way to place kisses over her neck.

He could feel Kate's lips near his ear as she whispered, "Will you let the ripper out to play too?"

Stefan sat up, breathing heavily. He looked around his room, realizing that he was alone. It hand only been a dream. With a sigh he fell back, closing his eyes to calm his nerves. Kate didn't know about his past and she also would never know. His fear was that she would try to turn him into a ripper again, only to kill her curiosity or that he would want to become the ripper again only to have her. Stefan was torn. One part of him wanted Elena and the other wanted Kate. Elena was the sun and Kate the moon, the twins were like day and night, light and darkness. While his good and human side wanted Elena, the ripper inside him screamed for Kate. He loved Elena, but deeply cared for Kate.

* * *

Kate was slowly waking up and rubbed her nose against her pillow, realizing suddenly that her pillow was harder than usual. Opening her eyes and lifting her head, Kate saw a sleeping Damon. She bit down on her lower lip, stopping a smile from appearing on her face. She couldn't stop the happiness that ran through her body at the sight of him. Her arm was draped over his stomach, while he was holding her close to him. Kate rested her chin on his chest, watching him sleep. He looked innocent while he was sleeping. There was no cocky smirk on his face, nor did he do this eye thing. Although Kate had to admit she missed his blue eyes. Damon had this intense stare that made her knees go weak. As much fun it was to watch Damon sleep, Kate was starting to get bored. She would make a bad Edward Cullen.

Kate moved her body so that she was lying on top of him and sat up, straddling him. With her hands on his chest, Kate lent down and placed a kiss on his jaw. She continued placing kisses down his neck, using her teeth and her tongue. A groan reached her ears and she smirked against Damon's neck. Suddenly she was flipped around with Damon hovering over her. Kate couldn't hold back her giggles.

"Someone is in a very good mood this morning," He whispered in her ear.

"Have no idea why," Kate said with a small smile on her lips.

Damon locked his eyes with Kate's, their nose brushing against each other. He liked the giggling and laughing Kate better than the crying Kate. She let her fingers slid over his back, loving to feel the older vampire so close to her. Hadn't she been angry with him the other night? He didn't really deserve her anger. It had been Kate's decision to feed Vicki the blood and it had been her choice to compel Elena. Damon might have given her the idea, but he didn't force her to do anything. A sigh fell from Kate's lips. Damon brushed a curl from her face, trying not to let her sudden sadness affect him. He wanted nothing more than to hate this girl for making him feel something, but somehow he couldn't.

"Are you alright, Kath?" Damon asked, concern lacing his voice. A small smile crept on Kate's face at her new nickname.

Kate was debating with herself is she should tell him or not. It was funny that at the moment it seemed like the only person she could talk to was Damon. When did that happen? Taking a deep breath, Kate confessed, "I compelled Elena last night."

Suddenly her behaviour from last night made much more sense to him. Kate had been angry, not because she had to kill Vicki, but because she compelled her own sister.

"What did you compel her to do?" He asked cautious, knowing that Kate could simply snap at him if she felt bothered by his question.

Kate averted her eyes from his, "I compelled her not to break down, to stay strong. I just couldn't see her so broken."

"You could have done worse," Damon reasoned, "You just did something completely human. You took away her suffering."

He placed a kiss on her cheek, loving the soft feeling of her skin against his lips. Kate let her fingers slid in his raven hair, actually liking this sweet and kind side of Damon. She didn't know what was going on between them and what exactly they were, but she didn't mind having him around. Using her vampire speed, Kate turned them around, straddling him. Giggles fell from her lips as she saw his perplexed face. Damon's lips formed into a smirk as he saw Kate giggle again. He would never understand her. One moment she was so vulnerable and insecure and the next she was laughing, ignoring that just a moment before she had shown weakness.

"What are you doing today?" He asked her, surprising Kate.

"Why? Do you want me to spend the day with you, Damon?" Kate leant down, letting her nose brush against his.

"Maybe. So, what are you doing today?" He asked her smirking.

Kate sat up again and pursed her lips, "I am not sure, but at the moment it seems like I am going to spend my day annoying you. I hope you don't mind that."

Damon sat up and pulled her closer to his chest. His lips gracing over her throat, as he whispered, "I don't, but I am sure that we can find something that will entertain the two of us."

"What are you suggesting, Mr Salvatore?" Kate let her finger slid in his raven hair, grabbing it roughly and receiving a growl for it.

Damon didn't answer her. Instead he traced patterns with his tongue on her skin. Kate threw her head back with a moan. She was enjoying this a bit too much. But why should she care? Caroline ended their friendship. She ended the friendship with Stefan. There was no one stopping her from having fun with Damon. Kate moved her hips, creating enough friction against Damon's slowly growing erection. Groaning, Damon let his hand slip under her top, lifting it up. He removed his lips from her throat to take of her top and Kate let him. The second the top was removed from Kate's body, his lips were once again on her throat. Her fingers were tangled in his raven hair and she pulled on it, tilting his head back. Their eyes locked for a moment before Kate kissed his mouth. Letting her tongue ran over his lower lip, asking for entrance that Damon gladly allowed her. His hand soon found its way up to cup her breast and giving it a slight squeeze before caressing his hand against it. Kate bit on his lower lip, drawing blood, tasting the red intoxicating liquid. Damon let her to both of their surprise. Her mouth filled with Damon's blood, only multiplying her lust. As his blood touched her tongue, Kate moaned. It was like she could taste Damon, everything that he was, every little feeling and he tasted delicious.

Damon's hand slid from her breast to the clasp of her bra, undoing it. The bra slid down her arms, freeing her breasts. He turned them around, Kate once again lying under him. Her bra was thrown away carelessly like her top earlier. His hand once again cupped her breast, letting his thumb brush over her nipple. With a moan, Kate arced her back. Her mind was gone, there was only the pleasure Damon gave her, nothing more. She broke their kiss, starting to place kisses on his chin and jawline, while her hands tried to get rid of his shirt. With a chuckle, Damon sat up, removing his shirt. Before he leant down again, he looked at Kate. She was lying under him with a bare chest, her mouth covered in his blood and her eyes glistering with lust. It was a beautiful sight. Not waiting long, he crashed his lips back on Kate's, relishing in her taste. Getting impatient, Kate let her fingers roam over his chest down to his jeans, removing his belt and zipping his jeans open. Her hand disappeared in it, rubbing her hands over the erection in his boxers. Damon moaned into her mouth.

A sudden knock on Kate's door stopped their actions. Kate broke the kiss and tried to sit up, but failed. Damon refused to let go of her. His face buried in her neck, growling only for Kate's ear audible.

"Yes?" Kate said, hoping that her voice wasn't shaking too much.

"Are you alright Kate? I heard noises out of your room and wasn't sure what happened," Kate could hear her aunt say. Damon was playing with the thought of opening the door and to compel Kate's aunt to go back to bed.

"I'm fine. I just feel out of my bed and hurt myself, but I am fine now," The younger vampire lied, hoping that her aunt would leave with that.

"Okay. I want to remind you that we have to go to the Sheriff's office today," Jenna informed her, "She wants to ask a few questions about Vicki."

"Fine by me. I'll go and take a shower now and get ready," Kate answered and heard her aunt leave.

While her talk with her aunt, Damon's lips had moved lower. Kate let out a surprised moan as she felt him suck on her nipple. She arced her back. Using all of her self-control, Kate pushed Damon away from her and stood up, putting enough room between them.

"I'll take a shower now," Kate said out of breath. Pivoting at the heel of her feet, Kate went into her bathroom. She took of her shorts and her panties and disappeared in her shower.

A few seconds later, Kate could hear someone entering her bathroom. A groan fell from her lips; she knew exactly who it was. A pair of arms was slung around her stomach and she felt kisses being placed on her shoulder.

"I wanted to take a shower alone, Damon," Kate scoffed, trying not to let his hands that were roaming over her body, distracting her.

"We can save water when we shower together," Damon whispered in her ear.

"Not with what you have in mind, Damon," She argued, turning around in his arms.

"You are thinking about the same thing, Kath," Damon cupped her face in his hands, pulling it closer to him.

Kate put her hand on his chest, pushing him away, "No sex in the shower."

Damon pouted, but Kate ignored him. She turned around, going back to her shower.

* * *

Kate didn't have sex with Damon in the shower, even though he didn't give up trying. The questioning with the Sheriff was horribly boring to Kate. She did as she and Elena had decided and kept to their story. It could bring them into problems if they just simply said the truth. Kate put a sad expression on her face and told the Sheriff her story.

As Kate and her family stepped out of the Sheriff office, they say Stefan there waiting. While Jeremy and Jenna went to the car, Elena and Kate stayed behind. Elena approached Stefan and Kate kept her distance. After she had ended their friendship the night before, Kate wasn't sure how she should act around him. She deeply regretted it and wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him that she changed her mind. But it had been the right thing to do. Maybe one day they could be friends again, they were immortal after all. Kate listen to the conversation, Stefan and Elena were having, knowing that it was rather rude, but since when did she care about that. Elena left Stefan standing alone and walked up to her sister.

"Are you coming, Kate?" She asked her.

"No, I have to feed," Kate whispered the last word, "I'll see you at home."

Elena nodded and met up with Jeremy and Jenna at the car. As much as she loved her sister, it was still hard to fully understand that her sister occasionally had fangs.

Stefan's gaze moved from Elena to Kate. As he saw her, he once again remembered the dream he had of her. He averted his eyes from her. Kate let out a scoff and approached him, even though she knew that she shouldn't do that.

"You have to give her time. She will get over the fact that you are a vampire. Elena is in love with you, Stefan," Kate said and wanted to leave again, but Stefan stopped her.

He took her hand in his, holding her back. Kate did her best to ignore the feelings that ran through her as he touched her.

"Wait, I want to talk with you, Kate," The desperation clear in his voice. Kate closed her eyes for a moment and pivoted to look at him.

"I don't want to talk, Stefan. I made myself clear last night," Kate spoke in a strong voice. She did her best to ignore the look of pure and utter hurt in Stefan's eyes. Convincing herself that it was the right thing, Kate freed her hand from his. "Don't make this harder on me than it already is, Stefan."

"Please, tell me that there is still hope for our friendship," Kate closed her eyes at the hurt in Stefan's voice.

"I never said there wasn't. I just can't be your friend right now. My life is so complicated at the moment. I have no memories. I am a vampire and whatever I have with your brother isn't making anything easier," The brunette paused, her eyes meeting Stefan's, "I care about you, Stefan and I'll be there for you, but I can't be your friend anymore. I need time, like Elena does. Please, try to understand that."

Stefan simply nodded, fighting the urge to bring her to his chest and hold her to him. Kate turned around and left him standing alone.

* * *

With a bunch of books in her arms and coffee in her hand, Camilla was walking through Mystic Falls. She just had spent hours in a little bookshop and had left with books. The witch wasn't even sure if she would have enough time to read all these books. It was a beautiful day, for a change she was happy. It didn't happen often after the whole fiasco with her mother and the death of her father. But she should have known that her happiness wouldn't last for long, because suddenly she bumped into someone. Her books fell to the ground and the coffee over them. Her books were ruined and she didn't even got the chance to read them. The witch lifted her gaze and looked in the eyes of Alec. The vampire smirked at the witch, with his hands crossed behind his back while he watched the witch. Alec's green eyes were void of any emotion. The only thing that you could spot was the anger, lingering, waiting to be set free.

"I thought you left town already," Camilla stated, forcing herself to keep looking in his eyes. The lack of emotions in his eyes scared the witch.

"I was about to leave as I suddenly saw Kate, who I just had killed a few hours ago walking covered in blood through the forest," His smirk disappeared, "Where did you get the vampire blood from? Why would you risk it to give her vampire blood? What is so special on Kate Gilbert? She is nothing more than a doppelganger-" Alec suddenly stopped. He knew that Camilla and Charles just wouldn't give vampire blood to anyone. Cruel laughter escaped his lips as he realized the plan the witches had had. "You were going to turn her anyway. You were planning her death. The question now is why?"

Camilla's heart started to beat faster as Alec stepped closer to her. She should have known better than to underestimate the vampire. "I don't know what you are talking about," The uncertainty could be heard in her voice.

"You know exactly what I am talking about, little witch. You and your father had vampire blood, meaning that you planned on using it. My being in town just made you speed up your plan," While he was talking he stepped closer to Camilla, who knew that she shouldn't have underestimated Alec. Their plan hadn't worked Kate was still without memories.

"I don't have to tell you anything and you can't force me to talk," The witch spat, glaring at the vampire in front of her. Alec simply smirked, finding this situation amusing. He knew that the witch wouldn't share her plan with him. Camilla's loyalty didn't lie with him, but he would find out what was so special on Kate Gilbert that two witches tried to turn her into a vampire and actually succeeded.

"I'll get my information. As you should know, stubbornness is a family trait." He distanced himself from the witch and turned to leave. "If you happen to see my sister, tell her that I'll miss her," He called over his shoulder sarcastically.

Camilla's gaze followed the vampire, even though she was afraid, she couldn't stop the next words that left her mouth, "I will tell her how pathetic you are and maybe even inform her about the girl that you are seeing."

The next second, Camilla was pinned against the wall with Alec's hands on her throat. The vampire was shaking with anger and it took everything in him not to simply kill the witch. His hands was making it next to impossible for her to breathe. She regretted saying this to him. Alec was very short tempered and would kill someone before thinking, making him unpredictable. You could never know how he would react.

"You are lucky that I don't want you dead, but the next time you mention my girl then I'll rip out that annoying tongue of yours. Do you understand that?" Alec asked, his voice surprisingly calm, but his threat didn't lose any power. Camilla nodded, not able to speak cause of the lack of breath. He let go of her and disappeared with a wisp of air. The witch sat down, rubbing her throat while cursing herself. She had been stupid, now Alec would stay, trying to find out what was going on. Alec wasn't an idiot, he would find out about Kate. In this moment, Camilla wished that her father were still alive. He would know what to do.

* * *

Although Kate had been in the boarding house several times and had even lived here for a few days, it never failed to take her breath away when she entered it. It was just too big for only two people. She wouldn't mind living here, it was big enough that she could manage to avoid both Salvatore brothers for a while if she wanted too. Today, something was different in the house. She could sense another presence in it. The smell that she caught wasn't familiar. Wanting to satisfy her curiosity, Kate walked deeper inside the boarding house, but a hand that grabbed hers stopped her. She was turned around, suddenly looking into Damon's blue eyes. His lips were in his trademark smirk, making Kate roll her eyes.

"Come on. I want to show you something," Damon said, pulling her with him, leading her down to the basement. Kate knew where they were. It was where Stefan had locked Damon in. Back then she hadn't paid much attention to the interior of Damon's cell, but now she saw the plants that grew there. It was some kind of purple flower and over it hung lights. It looked like someone had grown it here in secret, but Kate had no idea why. As she tried to walk closer to the plant, Damon pulled her back. His arms slung around her stomach, letting go of her hand as he pressed her back against his chest. Kate could fell his breath on her ear.

"Don't touch it, Kath," He whispered in her ear. Her new nickname send a shiver down her back at the way he said it.

"Why?" She asked while putting her hands over his.

"That is vervain," He placed a kiss on her ear. "And we don't want you to get hurt, do we?"

For something that was poisonous to her, vervain looked rather pretty. Kate knew that touching vervain felt like you burned yourself, Stefan had told her about it. She would keep away from it as she didn't want to find out how much vervain could hurt her.

"Is that what you wanted to show me?" Kate asked, ignoring Damon's nose that brushed over her neck. Feeling him so close reminded her on this morning. Wouldn't Jenna have interrupted them, they would have slept with each other. In the shower, she had tried not to look at him too much, knowing that she would have given in other wise.

"Nope," He answered and suddenly her back was pressed against a wall. Damon's body held her against it, making it impossible for her to move away. His lips brushed over her ear.

"What is it you wanted to show me, Damon?" Kate asked.

Damon groaned against her neck. Every other girl and women in Kate's position would be shaking with lust, not able to ask questions. She was something different. Kate let her finger glide over his back. Her slow and teasing touch reminded him off this morning. His tongue ran over her neck past her carotid artery as the images of her bare body entered his mind. He shouldn't find it so surprising that her being naked affected him so much, concerning that she was the spitting image of Katherine. Still he couldn't remember feeling like he did with Kate with his former lover. He loved Katherine and not Kate. Katherine would be freed out of the tomb, but till then Kate was a good substitute. Not wanting to think about that anymore, Damon lifted Kate up and wrapped her legs around him. Another groaned escaped him at the feeling of her fingers grasping his raven hair. He removed his mouth from her neck and lifted his gaze, looking at her.

Kate was biting down on her lower lip, trying not to smile while looking into Damon's eyes. Never had someone looked at him like that. Her eyes were clouded in raw and pure emotions, lust, love- Why was she looking at him like that? Kate had feelings for Stefan and not for him. He couldn't understand the girl in his arms. Looking into her beautiful almond shaped eyes did something to him. There was a warm feeling in his chest, where is heart was located and in the pit of his stomach. She kept running her fingers through his hair. He closed in his eyes, sighing in content. Stefan was an idiot for choosing Elena over Kate. Damon wasn't surprised that his little brother had gone with the safer choice. Bad for Stefan and good for Damon. Now, he had Kate or could have Kate if he wanted to.

Kate tangled her fingers in the strands of his raven hair, enjoying the soft texture of it against her skin. A rush of happiness ran through her at their actions. There was a big chance that she could get used to this. Whatever _this_ was with Damon. The thought of waking up next to Damon, having a repeat of what had happened this morning, showering with him and just being around him, wasn't such a bad one. In honesty, she wished that her day could be like this everyday. She wouldn't mind this one bit. To add to their unusual relationship: Kate wasn't sure what they were. Were they a couple? Were they friends who liked to kissing each other? The status of their relationship stayed uncertain to her and she was too afraid to talk with him abut it, mostly because she didn't want to destroy what they already had.

Kate leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his cheek and then continued to place kisses to the corner of his mouth. With every kiss, Damon's grip on her thighs tightened. Her lips rested against the corner of his mouth as she started to speak, "I still have to take that bath in your bathroom. Willing to join me?" Her voice was low and seductive and it took Damon every ounce of control not to take her right there. Making sure that every thought of another men left her mind. After he had pleasured her to the point where she couldn't use her legs anymore, he would take a bath with her while enjoying the softness of her skin.

"Very tempting, but maybe another time," Damon forced himself to say and put her feet back on the floor, "There are a few things I have to take care off and you would only distract me."

He moved away from Kate, who was pouting now. Damon never had felt such an urge to have a girl moaning and screaming under him like he did with Kate and she was willing. She tried to seduce him daily. At times like these he wished that she still hated him.

"So, you wanted to show me something?" Kate asked, crossing her arms under her chest. "And who is the other person in the house? I felt someone."

"That would be Lexi, Stefan's best friend," Damon said and kept his eyes on her, wanting to see her reaction. He had heard her talk with Stefan the day before and knew how much their friendship had meant to the other. Kate averted her eyes from Damon, feeling a bit hurt. It shouldn't be surprising that Stefan had friends, but it didn't change the fact that she felt hurt. Kate had no right to feel hurt, as it had been her to end their friendship. She also felt a fraction of jealousy.

"Oh," Kate only said, "I had no idea that he had a…" She stopped herself before saying something rude.

"A friend?" Damon asked mockingly with a raised brow, "I know it is hard to believe that my brother has enough time to find a friend with all his brooding."

Kate gave him an annoyed glare, "Really, Damon?"

"I forgot. You and Stefan were friends, but that friendship started after you ripped apart your therapist," Damon said with his trademark smirk on his lips. Kate only rolled her eyes. He must enjoy reminding her on that and surprisingly she didn't felt the usual pang of guilt. Maybe it was because Damon didn't say it judging, but meant it as a joke.

"Does Stefan's best friend have a name?" She asked, putting her hands on Damon's shoulders, closing the gap between them.

"Her name is Lexi. Blonde and older than Stefan and I," Damon answered, distracted by the brunette's sudden closeness. He put his hands on her hips, pulling her even closer to him. Kate let her lips brush over his jaw line, keeping him distracted. Slowly she began to walk forwards, forcing Damon to walk backwards closer to the vervain. She let her hands roam over his chest, her finger brushing over the front of his jeans, getting a moan out of him. Suddenly, Damon felt a burning on his arm, where the vervain had touched his skin. Kate took a step backwards, as she heard his pained groan. With fascination Kate watched what an affect vervain had on him. Obviously it hurt, but where it touched the skin looked like burns. Damon pulled his arm back to him, glaring at the younger vampire, ready to kill her. Kate on the other hand only smirked.

"So, about that bath. Are you still up for it?" She asked innocently. "Or do you still want to show me something? Does it have something to do with the vervain?"

"Nope. No bath for you," Damon said, his voice sounding angry. "And don't pout," He commanded as he saw her pouting.

"Fine then," She sighed. "Are you going to share what your plan with the vervain is?"

It wouldn't have surprised Kate if he hadn't shared his plan with her, but he did even after what she had just done. Observant, she listened to his plan and she had to conclude that it wasn't a bad plan. Invading the council, so that they were informed about the knowledge they had or them. She didn't agree with the vervain part. To give them vervain was reckless, they could easily put it in the water supply, making it impossible to eat in this town. But he had to gain access somehow and the vervain was giving him the perfect opportunity for it. What Kate didn't know was that there was more to Damon's big plan, than he told her. Damon would do everything to make sure that she wouldn't find out what he actually planned.

* * *

"We have to tell her," Elena said as she burst into Kate's room. Kate furrowed her eyebrows, watching her twin in confusion. She just had come home, after Damon had kicked her out of his house with the explanation that with her presence the temptation to get distracted was too big and that could endanger his plan. Against her will, Kate had left the boarding house. She had just entered her room as Elena disturbed her peace.

"Elena, I am a vampire not a clairvoyant. We have to tell who?" The vampire asked.

"Bonnie, we have to tell Bonnie our secret. She told me hers. It is only fair," Elena explained and laid down on Kate's bed.

Kate sighed and laid down next to her sister, "You forget that it is not just our secret, right? Damon and Stefan wouldn't want her to know."

"Damon will have a problem with that, not Stefan," The elder Gilbert twin argued.

"I know that, but anyway," Kate sat up, eyes on her sister. "What is Bonnie's secret? I think it is only fair that I know it before I'll share my own secret."

Elena took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to tell her sister without betraying Bonnie, "It was more like she confirmed the she and her grandmother had."

"The witch-thing?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't told her about Camilla, did you?"

"No, I didn't," The elder twin said. "I would have given away your secret that way. Only you and I know about Camilla and the things that she told us."

"I think that we should keep it to ourselves. I don't want to endanger anyone," Elena agreed with her twin sister. Bonnie most likely would mistrust Camilla's word and surely would want to help them. So would Stefan, it was obvious to Elena that he cared about her and Kate. It wouldn't even surprise her when Damon would at least try to keep Kate safe. Elena hated the elder Salvatore, but she was convinced that he held her sister very dear. Kate meant something to him or he wouldn't bother to make sure that Kate feed properly. Elena also knew that Kate had feelings for Damon, even if her sister would never admit it.

"I think we should talk with Stefan," Kate suddenly suggested, breaking Elena out of her reverie.

"I thought that you two aren't friends anymore," Elena remembered this morning at breakfast her sister had informed her about the break of their friendship. Elena didn't know the exact reasons for that.

"You forget that it is his secret too. It is only fair to ask him," Kate reasoned, but actually she had a different. Both, Elena and Stefan were miserable without the other and Kate wanted to get these two stubborn idiots back together. Playing matchmaker was something Caroline usually did while Kate mostly had fallen victim to her friends want to pretend to be Jane Austen's Emma. Not waiting for her sister's response, Kate stood up from the bed, walking straight to her own closet and pulled out clothes. Kate did her best to find something that Elena would wear in her wardrobe. The clothers were thrown on the bed, landing next to Elena.

"Put them on. I refuse to go to the boarding house with you dressed like that," Kate pointed at the attire that Elena was wearing at the moment. "Thinking about it. I refuse to leave the house with you looking like this. And then there is the fact that you'll have to look pretty for Stefan," Kate teased in feigned innocence. Elena grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at her twin who easily caught it. While Elena glared at her, the vampire only smirked.

An hour later, the Gilbert twins arrived at the boarding house. They would have been here earlier, but Elena had needed a bit of convincing to get her to come. Kate literally had to drag her sister to the front door of the boarding house. Elena glared at Kate, before she rang the doorbell. To their surprise, a female voice answered them, telling them that they could come in. The twins looked at each other with confusion, they had never seen a girl in the boarding house. With uncertainty they entered the boarding house, Elena looked around trying to find the girl. Kate remembered what Damon had told her earlier about Stefan's best friend Lexi. Could she be the girl? Steps reached Kate's hear and she turned, seeing a blonde woman only wearing a towel.

"Oh my god," These three words left the blonde's mouth with shock and surprise. Now, even Elena realized that they weren't alone. As she spotted the blonde only wearing a towel, she felt a pang of jealousy. Was she here because of Stefan? Did he already have a new girlfriend? Or was she just a random hook-up?

Kate raised an eyebrow and let a hand rest on her hip, while observing the shock on the blonde's face. She looked like she had seen a ghost or worse. "You must be Lexi, Stefan's friend, right?" Kate asked with a small smile on her lips, confusing Lexi and Elena.

"Yes, who-?" Lexi couldn't finish her question, as Elena interrupted her.

"I'm Elena and this is my twin sister Kate," She introduced them, her eyes briefly meeting her twins. The question of how Kate had known, who the girl was clear in them. Kate mouthed Damon as an answer. Elena shook her head, she should have known that Damon would have something do to with it.

"We are looking for Stefan. Have you seen him?" Kate asked, still smiling, not sure if she liked Lexi or not.

"He's in the shower. Do you wanna wait?" Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise, hearing Lexi's words. Once again she felt jealous. Did they shower together? Kate turned her head away, trying not to laugh at how hilarious this situation was. Elena must be fuming with jealousy. Kate admitted that she too felt slightly jealous, but not for the same reasons as Elena. The fact that Lexi was Stefan's best friend, a person he had trusted for years, made Kate jealous and even regret ending their friendship.

"No, we don't. We should get going. Would you be so kind and tell him that we stopped by?" Elena was staring at her sister in confusion. She knew that voice. It was this sweet voice that she used when she was angry or annoyed.

"I'll do that." Lexi promised with a forced smile.

Elena grabbed Kate's arm, leading her outside. Kate let her otherwise Elena wouldn't have been able to move her at all. Outside the boarding house, Elena leaned against the car, not believing what just had happened. She felt jealousy and guilt. As much as she told herself that she and Stefan were over, she still had feelings for him. It had hurt seeing a girl only wearing a towel in his house.

Inside the house, Lexi couldn't believe what she had just seen. Kate and Elena looked exactly like Katherine, Stefan and Damon's dead ex-girlfriend. As he had told her about the twins, she had never thought that they would look like Katherine. He must have gone insane. It explained so much. Like the strange obsession Damon apparently had with Kate, the girl looked like the woman he loved. Furious, Lexi made her way back upstairs to Stefan's bedroom, where her best friend had just finished his shower and was getting dressed.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked in confusion, having no idea what his best friend just had found out.

Lexi walked over to his desk, picking up the picture of Katherine, showing it to him, " I just met Kate and Elena. You have some serious explaining to do."

* * *

Lexi was sitting on his bed, getting ready and waiting for an explanation from him. He should have known that she would find out about the resemblance between Katherine and the Gilbert twins.

"You have some serious emotional damage," She remarked.

"No, it's not what you think. Elena's not Katherine." He defended himself, pacing through the room.

"Then they're related because they could be twins," Lexi didn't point out that he only said that Elena wasn't like Katherine.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? You didn't find out?" The blonde asked in disbelieve. He had met two girls who looked exactly like his ex and he didn't try to find out why they looked like her. She didn't believe him.

"No, maybe I don't wanna know. I have no desire to tie Elena or Kate to Katherine." Lexi raised an eyebrow, looking at him and not believing one word that just had left his mouth. At least this time he had mentioned Kate.

"Okay, yes, yes, the resemblance is what drew me in, but that's it," Stefan explained. "Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside but on the inside they are completely different."

"Oh, so Elena's not a raging bitch then, huh?" Lexi asked, once again realizing that he spoke of Elena and not Kate. What was up with that?

"No." Stefan said with a dreamy smile and sat down. "No, Elena is… Elena's warm and she's kind. And she's caring and she's selfless. And it's real. And, honestly, when I'm around her, I completely forget what I am."

"Oh, my god. You're in love with her," Lexi said.

"Yeah. Now I am."

"Wow." Still, one thing was bothering her. "What about Kate?"  
Stefan froze, not knowing what he should say about Kate. He knew that she would also like to know about how much Kate was like Katherine or not.

"Let me guess. While Elena is the opposite of Katherine, Kate is exactly like Katherine." The blonde assumed. The few minutes of conversation she had with Kate earlier, made her wary of the younger vampire.

"No, Kate and Katherine share a lot of traits." Stefan admitted. "Kate is selfish and can be very rude and cruel if she wants to be, but there is so much more to her."

"Are you in love with both, Stefan?" Lexi asked him.

"No, I enjoy being around Kate. She makes me laugh, she never judged me for anything and I'm sure that she never would, but…" He trailed off. "Sometimes I am afraid that the more time I spend with her the stronger the ripper in me gets."

"Elena makes you feel human and Kate makes you feel the vampire." Stefan nodded at Lexi's words. "Why?" Lexi asked, knowing that there was more.

"I wish that I could teach her how to be a vampire, but Kate is too stubborn to keep down the animal blood. Now, Damon is teaching her how to feed on humans. I consider her my friend, Lexi. But I can't help her." It felt good to have someone to talk to and share his doubts with.

"You are jealous, that your brother has Kate."

"No, it isn't like that. I care about Kate, but I am not in love with her," He denied.

Lexi shook her head, "I hate to say it Stefan, but the way you talk about both of them sounds like you love them. Meaning Elena and Kate."

Stefan shook his head, not wanting to believe that he was in love with both. He admitted that he and Kate shared a certain connection, but that was it. They were friends. Kate Gilbert was nothing more than a friend to him.

"Just to satisfy my curiosity. Why is Kate being around a dick like Damon? I understand him, she looks like Katherine, but what is her reasoning?" Lexi asked. She hated Damon and the girl must see something in that man if she stayed around him.

"I don't know. I never asked, but Damon is different around her."

"Different?"

"She brings out the humanity in him."

Now, Lexi was surprised. Not even she had managed to do that. Did it really took simply a young girl with Katherine's face to bring out Damon's humanity? The girl was something different. She made Stefan feel the vampire inside him, the ripper who had killed without remorse. And with Damon, she brought out his humanity. Who was that girl?

"Now, that is a girl I want to meet," Lexi said. "Do you think that she will come to the party?"

* * *

Kate was searching through her closet to find a dress that she could wear for the party in the Grill tonight. She had to do something to keep her mind of Stefan and Lexi. Maybe she would even run into Damon who had the tendency to get drunk in the Grill. It saddened her that Elena refused to go out. Her twin was wallowing on her bed. Kate put on a dark blue dress and turned to her twin.

"What do you think? Can I go like this to Caroline's party?" She asked with a smirk on her face. Elena raised her head and nodded, then got back to her wallowing. Kate let out a scoff.

"Just admit it Elena. You are jealous and you feel guilty because of it." The vampire declared, starting to get annoyed by her sister's constant need to be the stronger one, to prove that she didn't need someone who cared for her.

Elena sat up, observing her twin, "I am not jealous. You said that she is only his friend. I have no right to be jealous."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Yes, you have the right to be jealous, because you are in love with Stefan and you want to be with him. I might have told you that Lexi is only his best friend, but you don't want to believe me." Elena scoffed, but Kate ignored her and continued. "She only wore a towel and they are vampires. They could be friends with benefits. Who knows?"

"Stop it. I don't want to talk about Stefan or Lexi. Just leave it be," Elena mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, don't be like that. You…" Kate was interrupted by an outburst from Elena.

"I am not going to talk about my feelings for Stefan, when it is so clear that you are completely in love with Damon. The same Damon who used your best friend." Elena yelled angry. The following second, she realized what she had just said. "Kate, I am so sorry. I…"

"Don't say anything," The vampire snarled. "I know that you hate Damon and I know what he did, but I care about him. He isn't as evil as everyone makes him out to be, he can be human. And I thought that you wouldn't mind it, if I did have feelings for him."

"Kate, I didn't mean what I just said," Elena tried to apologize, but Kate didn't let her.

"Oh no. You did mean what you just said, but you just don't want to lose your sister. I want you to get out of my room, before I do something I'll regret," She snapped.

Elena wanted to apologize, but she knew that Kate was stubborn. When she had calmed down, she could try to talk with her again. Without another word, Elena left Kate's room. Kate was left behind with a mess of feelings. Denying that she felt nothing for Damon wasn't working anymore. She cared about him, but being in love with him was something that she couldn't admit. As much as she knew he was still hung up on Katherine. He simply enjoyed her company. Kate would even say that they are close to be friends, who liked to kiss each other. Letting out a huff, Kate sat down on her bed. She wanted to hate Damon, but she couldn't. The more time she spent with him, the more she started to care for him. A tiny part of her knew that she was about to fall head over heels in love with Damon, but she would never admit that.

* * *

The Grill was full, the music was loud and alcohol was flowing. Exactly what Kate needed, a big crowd and alcohol to distract herself from all of her problems. It took her only seconds to spot Damon at the bar. To her surprise, Caroline stood there talking with him. From their fight that ended in the break of their friendship, Kate had assumed that Caroline hated Damon. Now, she was having a conversation with Damon and didn't look angry or murderous. What was up with that? Kate approached the pair, greeting Caroline with a smile. The blonde scoffed and left. Pivoting to Damon, Kate was about to ask a question as he cut her off with a question of his own.

"What are you doing here?" His eyes briefly wandered over the crowd of the Grill, trying to spot Lexi.

Kate narrowed her eyes, "It is a party and I felt like having some fun tonight."

"Can't you go out of town for that?" Damon didn't want her here. It could ruin his whole plan.

"Why would I go out of town when there is a party at the Grill?" The younger vampire didn't understand what was going on with Damon. It seemed like he was distracted by something. "You are up to something, Damon."

Damon's head snapped back to her, seeing the suspicion in her eyes. Since when did she know when he was up to something? He couldn't tell her, she wouldn't let him go through with him. "I don't know what you are talking about." Damon pretended like he had no idea what she wanted from him. "Don't you think that a high school party is a bit boring?"

Kate crossed her arms under her chest and raised an eyebrow, her look just said that she wasn't going to give up that easily, "I am a high school student, Damon. Going to high school parties is kind of normal for me and there is lots to eat here." She let her eyes flicker across the full Grill, already trying to spot her future meal.

"You can't feed here," Kate looked back at Damon, hearing the slight panic in his voice. Damon wanted to curse himself for his stupidity to let his panic flow in his voice.

"Why?" The younger vampire asked him with her head tilted to her side, wanting to get her answers to why he was acting so strange.

Damon leaned in closer to her and spoke in a low voice, so that only she could hear, "The council is on alert and they will check out a local party. Seeing a young teenager with bite mark will only make them even more suspicious and now they have vervain."

"Because you are the idiot who gave it to them," Kate argued lowly, sitting down next to Damon. With an eye roll, the girl gave in, "Fine, I won't feed on anyone in here. I'll need something else to get my out of my bad mood."

"Maybe you should go home and do what every other teenage girl does when they are upset," Damon suggested, trying to get her to leave.

He only got a glare as an answer, "The reason for my bad mood is at home. I don't want to see Elena at the moment."

"Stefan and I fight all the time. One fight with your sister can't be that bad. You should go and talk with her," Kate furrowed her eyebrows at his strange behaviour, he really was trying to get her to leave the Grill.

"You and Stefan hate each other. It is like you two always do things so that you can hate each other." She remarked, not going to do as Damon obviously wished and leave the Grill. It was oblivious to her why he would want her gone.

Damon took a lengthy drink from his glass, rolling his eyes at Kate's remark about him and his brother. "We have a very unusual relationship."

Kate scoffed at that. "Understatement of the century. You two have major problems and you can't always just blame _Katherine_ for them." She snatched his glass from him and started to drink out of it, enjoying the burning taste that the bourbon left on her tongue.

"Hey, compel yourself one," The older vampire complained.

Kate giggled, leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. Her lips lingered against his cheek for longer than necessary. Slowly she placed open-mouthed kisses over his cheek up to his ear. Damon closed his azure eyes, letting himself enjoy her kisses. Her tongue draw over the shell of his ear before taking it between her teeth. A sharp intake of breath was the response she received from Damon, making her smirk against his ear. She felt a pang of satisfaction that she could affect him in such a way. One of Damon's hands dropped to her knee, drawing patterns on the skin with his fingertips. His fingers wandered upwards to her thigh, disappearing under the fabric of her dress. Kate let go of his ear and to his satisfaction moaned his name in his ear. Her hands stopped his, pulling it away from her thigh.

"If you want to touch me again, see me naked again and do the one thing with me I refused to do this morning," She whispered seductively in his ear, "You have to tell me what you are planning on doing here tonight and why I have to leave."

Damon cursed her that she somehow always managed to seduce him or get him in a situation in which it was hard for him to think properly. Kate would make a perfect villain. It didn't help him that he could once again feel her tongue on his ear.

"Come on, Damon. Share your secret with me." She murmured against his ear.

With all his willpower, Damon moved away from her, standing up to put some room between them. Kate watched him with a bit of amusement glinting in her almond shaped eyes. Damon's eyes caught the one person he had been waiting for. It was the opportunity to get away from Kate, who proved to be as seductive as the woman she looked alike.

"I have to go." Kate raised her eyebrows as Damon fled from her. She saw him approaching Lexi, who just walked past him. Seems to her like Lexi wasn't a big fan of Damon. Kate smiled into her stolen drink. It surprised her as suddenly Lexi approached her with a small smile on her lips.

"Hey, you are Kate, right?" She asked, studying the girl that sat at the bar with curiosity. Earlier today Kate had seemed more arrogant than her sister and now that she sat in front of her, Lexi saw that Kate and Katherine had more in common than just their looks. A certain dark aura was surrounding Kate like she was older than her actual seventeen years. Maybe it was because of the memory loss that had changed the girl in front of her.

"Yep, Kate, short for Katherine, Gilbert. You are Lexi, the girl in the towel." Kate said lightly, taking a sip from the glass.

The blonde shook her head, laughing as she remembered earlier today, "Yeah, I am sorry. I just came out of the shower and didn't have enough time to get dressed."

"At least you weren't naked." Kate shrugged. "You and Stefan have been friends for years, am I right?" She really wanted to know more about their friendship and did her best to mask her jealousy.

The blonde nodded her head, "He told me that the two of you used to be friends, but you ended it."

Kate froze for a second, afraid that Stefan had told her. It shouldn't be a surprise they were friends. "Did he?" She looked away, compelling herself another drink.

"He also told me the reason behind it and I admit I admire you for it." Kate's gaze flickered back to the blonde in surprise. "You know him. I see that Stefan has feelings for you by the way he talks about you and you did the right thing by letting him go." Lexi explained. "But the question is if doing the right thing was the good thing to do."

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked.

"You care about Stefan, but you don't want to get hurt and that is why you are pushing him away." Before Lexi could say anything else, Kate suddenly stood in front of her.

"I don't need you to lecture me or tell me what to do." There was an underlying threat in Kate's voice. "I know what will come now. You'll tell me to stay away from Damon and that I should be a good, nice vampire. I will do as I please and just because you are older doesn't mean I'll keep to your rules." Kate took another sip from her glass. "Now, excuse me. I have to make me forget about your constant nagging." With a smirk gracing her lips, Kate walked away from Lexi joining the crowd.

Lexi's gaze followed Kate, not believing what just had happened. The girl was cruel and rude, it wasn't surprising that Damon liked her and that she was constantly tempting the ripper in Stefan. But how she managed to make Damon show his humanity was a mystery to Lexi.

* * *

Alec's eyes not once left Kate's form. Not one of her movements escaped his sight. The more he saw of her, the more he realised how similar she was to the woman who's face she wore. Still he couldn't understand what could be so special on this girl that the Grants would turn her. The only possibility to find out more was to talk with her in person. With a sigh, Alec rose from the booth he had sat down and made his way towards Kate, who had decided to dance after her argument with the blonde. Swallowing the disgust that rose in him at what he had to do now, he stepped closer to the brunette. He grabbed her by the waist, turning her around so that she faced him.

Involuntary, Kate put her palms on the stranger's shoulders. She smiled at him, raising her head to look him in the eyes as he was much taller than she was. He was handsome and attractive, but surprisingly Kate didn't felt attracted to him and she didn't understand why. Normally she felt attraction towards any handsome men, she even felt slightly attracted to Tyler and he was a dick to everyone most of the time. Kate could be a bit superficial at times.

"You are not from here, right?" She asked, trying to make conversation while they danced.

Alec nodded, forcing a smile on his features, "No, I am just visiting some old friends. I am playing with the thought to stay here."

Kate laughed, shocking Alec how light and real it sounded as it came from the same girl who just had threatened another vampire. "It is a nice little town. It can be a bit boring at times, there is nothing to do here." Kate didn't saw the shock on Alec's face, but she realized that he made sure to keep her as far away from him as possible.

"It can't be that bad. Everyone knows everyone and is ready to help the other. It must be nice to have such a familiarity around." Alec wasn't sure what he was doing here. He had planned to drag her outside and torture her for information and now he was dancing with her.

"More like everyone puts his nose in business that isn't theirs and when you do something wrong the whole town knows. It is annoying. I like the anonymity that you have in big cities." Kate said smiling.

Alec found himself transfixed by this smile. It was honest, not a trace of lying behind it. "Have you lived in Mystic Falls all your life?" He had to stop making conversation with her.

"I did, but I don't remember it." She said with a sigh.

"Why is that?" He asked, curious now.

Kate let out a humourless laugh. "I lost my memory about a year ago and remember nothing from my past. I have some ridiculous dream, nothing else." It was strange how easily she trusted him, like she had met him before.

"You lost your memories?" Now, it made sense why the Grants tried to turn her, they were hoping that she regained her memories and it was strange that Penelope had went missing about a year ago. He thought that… Suddenly he started to understand what was so special on Kate. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"I apologize, but I have to leave. I forgot that I have to go pick up my girlfriend." He made up an excuse, leaving Kate alone.

Kate was perplexed, the feeling of that she knew him didn't leave her. She followed him outside, but he disappeared before she could reach him. That was strange that he had disappeared and she hadn't managed to keep up with him. The only explanation for that was that he must be a vampire. What did he want here? Could it be that he was Alec? It would explain why she felt like she had met him before. After all he had killed her and she still didn't know why she didn't remember it. He hadn't seemed to want to kill her as she had thought that he would try it. But then again, she had no idea if the man she had just danced with really was Alec. Not feeling like going back inside the Grill, Kate decided to take a stroll through town. She didn't want to run into Lexi or Stefan and Damon didn't want her there anyway.

After a few minutes of walking through town, she heard a door open and someone call out her name. Kate turned around and saw Camilla standing on the front poach of a house with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Do you want to come inside?" She asked with a genuine smile on her lips.

"You know that I need a bit more to enter a house, right?" Kate's mood rose a bit.

Camilla laughed. "Come inside, Kate." The witch turned around, walking inside her house.

Kate shook her head at how easily the witch seemed to trust her. It was something that Kate didn't understand. Nonetheless, she followed Camilla inside the house. It was a big house. Bigger than two people needed, which led her to believe that actually this house was supposed to be for more than two people. The vampire let her eyes roam through the house, over the furniture that looked antique and the decoration. There were a lot of flowers, some with cards attached to them, probably with condolences from the citizens of Mystic Falls. Guilt flew through her again, as it had been her who had killed Camilla's father. She let out a sigh, seeing a picture of Camilla, her father and an unknown woman, most likely Camilla's mother. Shaking her head, Kate entered a room she guessed to be the living room. A smile appeared on her lips as she saw the chaos of books. They were everywhere, in the shelves, on the floor, the coffee table and on the two couches. Some of the books looked old, like it only took a touch that they fell apart and the musty smell of old books hung in the air. The witch grew on her by the second. It was oblivious to her how she had not seen this earlier and instead found her creepy.

"Are these all grimoires or are they called book of shadows?" Kate asked in curiosity and sat down on a couch, making sure that she didn't sat down on one of the books.

"They are grimoires. I was trying to find something about your memory loss, maybe I can undo my mother's spell somehow." Camilla sat down on the other couch with sadness clear on her face.

Seeing the witch so sad, stirred something inside of Kate, "Stop doing that. I don't think that I'll regain my memory if I try so hard. I'll only get disappointed. It is not worth it." Actually, Kate had wanted to say that she wasn't worth it.

"I know that you killed my father," Camilla whispered, shocking Kate. "I am not angry. My father seemed to know that something like that would happen. The morning he died, he was acting strange. He said things that sounded like he was going to die. He knew that you wouldn't be able to control yourself if he were to feed you his blood. I blame my father and his reckless plan, not you. You were the victim and I hope that you can forgive me for the part I played in this plan." Kate didn't trust her ears. Camilla had just apologized to her, even though it had been her who had killed the witch's father.

"There is nothing to forgive," The vampire was still confused, not sure what else to say. "You did what you thought was right." A small smile crept on Camilla's face, knowing that with her memories Kate might not have forgiven her that easily. She felt guilty for killing her father, otherwise she wouldn't have accepted it.

"I plan on making some more coffee. Do you want a cup?" Camilla asked and left the living room as Kate simply nodded.

For the first few seconds, Kate fought the urge to snoop around a bit. Camilla had mentioned it once that they had been friends and that meant that she must have something that once belonged to Kate in her possession or at least something that was familiar to Kate. Letting her eyes wander over the items in the living room, something caught her attention. It was an old box. It looked more like one of these old travel suitcases you saw in movies. Not able to fight her curiosity, Kate stood up and made her way towards the suitcase and opened it. Kate furrowed her eyebrows as she saw what was inside that suitcase. It were old books, a jewellery box and a package of letters. But these things didn't catch her eye, it was a photography of a man. He seemed so familiar. A warm feeling spread through her stomach, something she normally only felt around Damon or Stefan. Her lips formed into a genuine smile and before she could stop herself, she took the photo between her fingers. She brushed a finger over the man's face, trying to remember him.

_Giggles escaped her, feeling his finger tickling her sides and his nose brushing over her neck, taking in her scent. "Stop it." Kate breathed out between giggles. She pushed his hands off her and moved away from him, putting enough distance between them. Kate was only dressed in one of his shirt, while he only wore his pants. _

_Turning around to face him, she saw his smirk on his lips. Without thinking twice, Kate grabbed one of the pillows from his bed and threw it at him. He caught it easily. "Now, don't be like that." He said, throwing the pillow back on the bed, closing the distance between them. _

"_I hate it to be tickled and you know that. We can do something else," Kate offered, trying to dodge his attempts to grab her again. "I'll even go watch a game with you."_

"_You are aware that I am not alone at home. How do you suggest should I get your out of here without anyone seeing you?" His hands rested on her waist, as he finally had reached her and pulled her closer to him. "I have a better idea that doesn't involve us leaving my bedroom." Kate could feel his lips on her neck, kissing and nibbling the skin there._

"_I am quite the screamer, someone might hear us and burst in your room, blowing my cover." She whispered, feeling the lust slowly rising. He lifted his head again, meeting her eyes. Kate's dark brown eyes meet his hazel one. Her fingers tangled in his brown hair, pulling his lips down on hers. It was then she felt complete with his lips on hers, his body close to hers. Just being around him felt great. Kate couldn't imagine a world without him in it. There never had been a person who she had trusted more and she doubted that there ever would be another person._

_She broke the kiss, looking him once again in the eyes. Their noses were still brushing against each other. "Have I apologized to you yet?" Kate asked innocently._

"_No, you haven't yet. Are you going to?" He laughed, making Kate smile. It was so rare to see him laugh like that._

"_Well, I won't. Because we both know that you wouldn't have done it either, darling." Kate pushed away from him. He pouted at that, only to get hit by a pillow again. "You are impossible."_

"_And still you consider me your best friend," He argued._

"_You consider me your best friend, moron," She took another pillow and threw it at him._

"_There is no need to be so violent, kitten." Kate glared at him, hating to be called 'kitten'. He knew that and just did it to annoy her._

Kate shook her head as the flashback stopped. The last time that had happened was after she had snooped around the Salvatore boarding house and smelled Damon's leather jacket. This memory didn't tell her much, except the fact that she had a very strange view on the term friendship. At first she had thought that they were lovers and not best friends. She seemed to be very cosy with her **best friend**. Kate stood up, turning around the photo, hoping to find a name, but there was nothing. Faintly Kate could hear someone enter the room.

"Found something interesting?" Camilla asked, with two cups of coffee in her hands. Kate lifted her gaze from the photo.

"Do you know who this is?" She asked, raising the photo so Camilla could see the person.

Camilla narrowed her eyes, stepping closer. Giving one cup of coffee to Kate, she took the photo in her hand, studying it. "I'm sorry," She said after a while. "I've never seen him in person and neither do I know his name. He is a touchy subject for you. No one dared to ask about him."

"Is he dead?" Kate asked, suddenly feeling sad.

"I don't know. Like I said you never liked to talk about him," The witch explained. "He must have meant a lot to you." She handed Kate back the photo. "You can keep it. Maybe it will help you to remember."

"Thank you." Kate said softly, not taking her eyes of the photo. Who was he and what had happened to him? There were so many secrets in Kate's life it was impossible. The ringing of her phone took her out of her thoughts. She gave Camilla the cup back and walked to the sofa, where she had left her purse and answered her phone. It was Elena, who told her what just had happened at the Grill and what Stefan wanted to do know. Promising her sister to stop him from doing something that he would regret, she hung up.

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave," Kate apologized to Camilla. "Damon killed Stefan's best friend Lexi and now Stefan is out for revenge."

"I understand. You have to stop him before he kills his own brother. Something that he'll regret later." Camilla nodded in understanding, aware that Kate held a certain affection for both brothers. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

"Thank you, Camilla. I'll see you." Kate disappeared by using her vampire speed.

* * *

A few minutes after she had received a call from Elena and left Camilla's place, Kate arrived at the boarding house. She admitted that she wasn't sure if she was here because of Stefan or because of Damon. Entering the boarding house, Kate called out for Stefan, hoping that his attempt in trying to kill Damon didn't end with him dead.

"Kate," It was nothing more than a whisper. She turned to the left, seeing Stefan. He looked horrible, never had she seen him like that. Tears were streaming down his face and he was shaking. Before Kate could take a step towards him, his arms were circled around her waist, holding her to him. He buried his face in her neck. Soothingly she ran her fingers through his hair, not planning on leaving him alone. So often had he held her, it was time for her to return the favour. While she looked over his shoulder, she spotted something else or rather someone else.

Standing in the shadows was Damon, watching Kate comfort his little brother. Relief ran through Kate as she saw that Damon was fine. He might have done something bad, but she didn't want him hurt. Damon fought against the jealousy that rose inside of him at the sight in front of him. He was too distracted with what he felt to see the relief in Kate's eyes. Not wanting to see them, he left to find himself something to drink, wanting to drown his feelings.

Kate saw, Damon leave her and Stefan alone and decided that they probably should move. "Let me bring you upstairs, Stefan." She whispered in his ear.

That she felt horrible was an understatement. All the time while she had comforted Stefan, her mind had been with Damon. Even as she was lying in bed with Stefan and he had fallen asleep with his head on her stomach, her mind was with his brother. The same brother who just had killed his best friend, so that the council would be off their back. Kate didn't admit it in front of Stefan, but it wasn't a stupid plan. After a few more minutes lying in Stefan's bed, Kate carefully pulled away from Stefan, not wanting to wake him up. Unconsciously, she wanted to find Damon, but she used the excuse that she wanted to get something to eat. She hadn't feed all day and it was starting to take its stroll on her.

As she came downstairs, the scent of alcohol greeted her. There she saw Damon with a bottle of bourbon in his hand, drinking straight from the bottle. From the smell and the several other empty bottles, he had been at it for a while now. Kate shook her head. "Your diabolical master plan worked." She mocked harshly, making Damon turn around to her.

"Aren't you supposed to be the crying shoulder for my brother?" He snapped, continuing to drink from the bottle. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, holding her to him till he couldn't smell the stench of his brother on her anymore.

"You had enough, Damon. Give me the bottle." She stepped towards him, trying to take the bottle from him.

"I don't get it. Why him?" Kate narrowed her eyes at Damon's words. "You want to be bad and he'll never accept you that way. I will and I do." Kate was sure that it was all the alcohol that made Damon say these kind of things. "I got to taste your blood. So much fire and darkness and secrets. Such strength in it. Delicious." Suddenly he stood in front of her, his nose brushing over her collarbone. Kate froze, closing her eyes. His free hand rested on her hip. "Who are you, Kate Gilbert? Why do you make me want you so much?"

"You don't want me. You want Katherine." Kate forced herself to say. The moment he was sober again, he would regret having told her this. It was Katherine that he wanted.

"I love Katherine." He admitted and lifted his head, looking in Kate's eyes. "But then there is you." The emotions Kate saw in his azure eyes shocked her. Never had she seen him like that, so open and vulnerable. She felt honoured that he let her see him like that.

It was wrong. But she did it anyway.

Her lips found his in a searing kiss. It was nothing more than biting, nibbling and sucking with all the held back passion. Throwing away the bottle to have both of his hands free, Damon lifted her legs up and around his waist, keeping his hands under her bottom to keep her up. Kate's finger roughly ran through his hair, messing it up more than it was before. With a loud crash, Damon blurred them towards the next best wall, pinning the younger vampire against it. His hips rolled forwards against hers, making her groan and her grip on his hair tighten. Thanks to the support of the wall, he could move his hands from her bottom upwards under her dress.

"Not here." Kate breathed out, breaking the kiss only to keep sucking on his neck. A few seconds later with the help of vampire speed, Kate felt the soft texture of Damon's bed under her.

Damon's fingers slid under her dress up to her panties. Without asking for permission, he removed them. Well, it was more ripped them off her. His finger teasingly touched the bundle of nerves between her legs. The brunette threw her head back, stopping her sucking on his neck to moan. This was so wrong, but it felt so good. Smirking against her collarbone, Damon continued to fondle her clit, relishing in every moan and groan he received.

His name fell from her lips in a growl as he slowly slid a finger inside her. He was very skilled with his fingers for someone who just had drunk half of the alcohol supply that was in the possession of the Salvatores. Her hands dropped down to the bed, grapping the sheet as he added another finger into her core. He moved them in a slow and teasing pace, always hitting the right spot. With every thrust Kate could feel herself coming closer to her orgasm and the longer it took the more frustrated she grew. "Damon," She growled frustrated.

Damon only smirked. As he felt her release approaching, he removed his fingers from her. Kate growled at the loss, not believing that he was stopping now. Wanting to argue with him, Kate sat up a bit as suddenly her legs were removed from around his hips and put over his shoulders. Every argument died on her tongue as she felt his tongue on her clit. Unable to take her eyes of him, she watched him lick and suck on her bundle of nerves. It was the most erotic sight that she had ever seen and even though she had no memories, she was sure that there was nothing more erotic than having Damon Salvatore's face between your legs.

Once again she felt him insert his fingers in her core, all the while he kept sucking on her clit. It got harder to keep watching him, closing her eyes, Kate let herself fall back in the pillows, simply enjoying this. Then she felt it again, her release coming closer with every suck and thrust. Biting down on her clit, Damon felt her clench around his fingers, sending her over the edge while screaming his name. Kate's body was shaking and a feeling of completeness filled her. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like this. There was one thing, she knew, she wanted more. Damon removed his fingers from her core and took her legs off his shoulders, putting his hands on either side of her head to hover over her.

Seeing her satisfied smile on her lips, filled him with glee and he couldn't wait to have her once again screaming his name. She would be ruined for every other man after that. Leaning down to place kisses down her jaw line, woke Kate out of her reverie.

Damon should have known that it wouldn't stay like that. He heard his brother coming out of his room, surely being woken up by the noise that they had made. Hearing it to, Kate pushed Damon of her and stood up. "Oh my god. What did I do?" She whispered in panic.

This morning it wouldn't have been bad to go this far with Damon, but now it was just wrong. He had killed Stefan's best friend and she had been comforting Stefan after what he had done. Straightening out her dress, not even looking for her panties, Kate blurred to Damon's bedroom door.

"Don't." She stopped as she heard Damon's voice. Closing her eyes, the younger vampire rested her forehead against the door with her hand on the doorknob. Damon was still on the bed, watching her.

"I'm sorry, Damon." She opened his door and left his room and the boarding house.

Furious at himself for opening up to Kate, Damon opened the windows to get rid of her scent. He took off the covers on his bed and changed them. The last piece that reminded him that Kate really had been here were the black lace panties that he had ripped off her. Watching it for a few moments, Damon took it and let it disappear in one of his drawers. All day long, Kate had made him feel things that he wasn't supposed to and at the Grill she had proved that she knew exactly how to use that against him, but not anymore. He was here for Katherine and not for Kate Gilbert.

* * *

**That was it. Hope you liked it and don't forget to review.**


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